Burial Wells

Burial Wells

Burial Wells are sometimes called 'holes in the world'. They are existing holes in which residents of Yliakum dispose of their deal. Neither of the two major Yliakum faiths place great reverence on bodies, and many simply view bodies as empty shells.

Perhaps by accident, or by necessity, the custom arose that the dead should be dropped down deep into what is believed to be naturally-formed holes. 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 apparent 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.

Some have suggested 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.