Still fiddling with my greenscreen, but I got my lights today (thanks ko-fi supporters :) ) and the next greenscreen I shoot (2 weeks release cycle) should be better.
Same. It is such an interesting topic. A lot of anthropologists view funeral rites and traditions as the start of human culture. The veneration of our dead ancestors was the cornerstone of the kin system, which arguably helped pave the way for societies. And in philosophy, funeral rites are an important component of the human psyche. The way we as a society treat our dead, is a reflection of the value we place on those still alive.
I just had the realization that Sanderson’s Warbreaker fits a lot of ideas discussed here. It’s magic system revolves around animating objects, and animating human corpses is fairly cheep due to the way its rules work. This results in a lot of manual labor being done by “dumb” undead. It can be considered a mageocracy (not directly stated), because magic power and wealth/status are directly correlated. There’s also the Returned, people who died but were resurrected into immortal bodies (keeping their intelligence, but lacking their memories from before death). They basically fill the “smart undead” niche and are granted a high status in society (not ruling class, though, but they are treated as gods). They even need to feed on humans (non-lethally, though) to continue living.
@@JustInTimeWorlds There’s currently only one book, though a second book is planned for sometime in the far off future. It has one of my favorite Sanderson magic systems (behind Feruchemy from Mistborn and Forgery from Emperor’s Soul), because it is pretty straightforward but has a lot of ways to use it. The basic idea is each person is born with one “Breath”, which doesn’t really do much on its own so most people sell it. Objects can be animated by infusing a certain number of Breaths into them, varying based on the command you use, the object’s material, its shape, etc. You can then retrieve the Breaths you used from the object. Animating a corpse only takes one Breath (among other advantages, like learning/intelligence), but you can’t get it back afterwords. In the case of Returned, they have a super powerful Breath that’s worth hundreds or thousands of regular ones, but they need to eat one Breath a day and die if they lose their divine Breath (if they give their Breath to someone, that other person is magically healed; this is the main reason they are treated as gods, though they also have something to do with prophecies, but I don’t remember the specifics).
@@JustInTimeWorlds Yeah, and unfortunately the sequel seems to be lower priority with all the other series going on. At least two of the characters and its magic system got cameos in Stormlight Archive, but a more direct continuation would be nice.
@@thatnerdygaywerewolf9559 I've paused my reading of stormlight. Too much detail with a year gap between each book. I'll do the whole series when it's done rather.
Combining these ideas into one government could be interesting. A nation ruled by vampires who are also necromancers. They must feed off people and the undead that they raise must also consume flesh (human or animal). Criminals could be used as a food source when livestock (non-human) is low. I might incorporate this into the fantasy story I'm writing. I had plans for a kingdom ruled by vampires already. They could use necromancy to stay in power. Luckily, how my vampires work is that they don't burn in daylight (this is NOT a part of the original mythology and was invented by the movie industry) and a single bite is not enough to turn someone (also came from Hollywood) meaning new vampires aren't always being made, however, a vampires bite can cause other effects such as an addictive euphoria (also heightened sexual urges) meaning those bitten may seek it out again. This means a lot of the population is mostly horny addicts.
Good necromantic world in Gideon the Ninth.
That's on my TBR list. I should just get the audio book, it's the only way I get anything done.
Still fiddling with my greenscreen, but I got my lights today (thanks ko-fi supporters :) ) and the next greenscreen I shoot (2 weeks release cycle) should be better.
Would love a video on funeral preparations!
I'll add it to the list :)
Same. It is such an interesting topic.
A lot of anthropologists view funeral rites and traditions as the start of human culture. The veneration of our dead ancestors was the cornerstone of the kin system, which arguably helped pave the way for societies.
And in philosophy, funeral rites are an important component of the human psyche. The way we as a society treat our dead, is a reflection of the value we place on those still alive.
I just had the realization that Sanderson’s Warbreaker fits a lot of ideas discussed here. It’s magic system revolves around animating objects, and animating human corpses is fairly cheep due to the way its rules work. This results in a lot of manual labor being done by “dumb” undead.
It can be considered a mageocracy (not directly stated), because magic power and wealth/status are directly correlated.
There’s also the Returned, people who died but were resurrected into immortal bodies (keeping their intelligence, but lacking their memories from before death). They basically fill the “smart undead” niche and are granted a high status in society (not ruling class, though, but they are treated as gods). They even need to feed on humans (non-lethally, though) to continue living.
I think I read that one years ago. The first book at least. It definitely rings a bell.
@@JustInTimeWorlds There’s currently only one book, though a second book is planned for sometime in the far off future.
It has one of my favorite Sanderson magic systems (behind Feruchemy from Mistborn and Forgery from Emperor’s Soul), because it is pretty straightforward but has a lot of ways to use it. The basic idea is each person is born with one “Breath”, which doesn’t really do much on its own so most people sell it. Objects can be animated by infusing a certain number of Breaths into them, varying based on the command you use, the object’s material, its shape, etc. You can then retrieve the Breaths you used from the object. Animating a corpse only takes one Breath (among other advantages, like learning/intelligence), but you can’t get it back afterwords.
In the case of Returned, they have a super powerful Breath that’s worth hundreds or thousands of regular ones, but they need to eat one Breath a day and die if they lose their divine Breath (if they give their Breath to someone, that other person is magically healed; this is the main reason they are treated as gods, though they also have something to do with prophecies, but I don’t remember the specifics).
@@thatnerdygaywerewolf9559 I definitely remember it! I liked it and I actually looked for the second book. Sad that it hasn’t come out yet
@@JustInTimeWorlds Yeah, and unfortunately the sequel seems to be lower priority with all the other series going on. At least two of the characters and its magic system got cameos in Stormlight Archive, but a more direct continuation would be nice.
@@thatnerdygaywerewolf9559 I've paused my reading of stormlight. Too much detail with a year gap between each book. I'll do the whole series when it's done rather.
Combining these ideas into one government could be interesting. A nation ruled by vampires who are also necromancers. They must feed off people and the undead that they raise must also consume flesh (human or animal). Criminals could be used as a food source when livestock (non-human) is low.
I might incorporate this into the fantasy story I'm writing. I had plans for a kingdom ruled by vampires already. They could use necromancy to stay in power. Luckily, how my vampires work is that they don't burn in daylight (this is NOT a part of the original mythology and was invented by the movie industry) and a single bite is not enough to turn someone (also came from Hollywood) meaning new vampires aren't always being made, however, a vampires bite can cause other effects such as an addictive euphoria (also heightened sexual urges) meaning those bitten may seek it out again. This means a lot of the population is mostly horny addicts.
Just great