One of my favorite questions when I studied the storied art of stealing things from dead people, the question that annoyed my professors to no end, was why do so many cultures use elaborate tombs?
Less material cultures tend towards barrows, also called kurgans, burial mounds, or Tumuli. All of them are similar...a pile of rocks or dirt over a grave. And what makes those graves similar is that all are buried with grave goods.
More advanced cultures, and those with magic to manipulate stone, tended to build pyramids. Always more pyramids. Stepped pyramids, ziggurats, mastabas (baby proto-pyramids), and the more familiar smooth-faced pyramid are found all over the galaxy.
Inside you will generally find the tomb of someone incredibly important, and all the energies around the place are focused through the pyramid. Modern mages or anyone with a passing interest in the arcana can perceive this whenever you approach a tomb.
Those energies were focused into a central chamber, and just off that central chamber you would find a secret tomb where a body had been stored. All around this body lay, wait for it, grave goods. Why? Sixteen year old Jerek wouldn't stop asking that question.
What was the point of the tomb? Why put all your old junk in there with you instead of leaving it to your family? And why was this so prevalent, all over the galaxy? Finally, the biggest question for me, why would you go through the trouble of creating a pyramid to focus magic, and then not set up any spells?
I finally have answers, and unlike me you won't have to find them yourself.
Reincarnation
When we die we pass to the Spirit Realm. Anyone who understands the metaphysics under-pining reality knows this is true. We can observe the Great Cycle in action. We can journey to the Spirit Realm, and observe souls passing over.
If we're brave enough we can even watch those souls plunge into the Maw itself. The Maw churns up all souls, all magic, all energy, everything, and then spits it out into the Spirit Realm.
Why do almost all cultures use tombs? Because they're trying to secure their reincarnation. If you do nothing then little bits of your soul could end up in a dozen people, and some random otter on Colony 3. You aren't really you anymore. You're bits of scattered memory that people will occasionally recall.
As you can imagine people fear death, and fear dissolution. They want to remain as they are. When they are reborn they want it to be as themselves. And, as it turns out, you can actually do that. If you focus the right divine energies, and perform the correct rituals before death, and have the proper grave goods, then when you pass through the Maw your soul is insulated.
You are reincarnated as you.
Tombs
The primary mechanism to secure reincarnation is the Tomb. All tombs are built to channel energies, but few question how or why. A simple burial mound may not appear to be channeling energy, but it is. It is channeling thought. Prayer. Worship.
When you create a tomb you invite your ancestors to remember you as you were. To venerate you as you were. This energy is linked to your soul, and when your soul passes beyond it will gird you against the dangers of the Spirit Realm.
A simple barrow with a marker tells your family, and friends, that you existed. So long as people remember, and believe, and hold onto who you were, then the tomb continues to function. In theory that only has to last as long as it takes to journey through the Spirit Realm, be reborn into the Dream Realm, and then finally return to our realm as a new life or lives.
If the process worked then your soul is either entirely, or mostly intact. You can come back missing pieces, and find them in other people. A special kinship. Literal soulmates.
The more powerful the tomb, the more likely you will return as yourself. For a soul to survive completely intact you need five levels of warding. A pyramid grounds one ward with each of the elements, and one to the sky, the tip of the pyramid itself, which represents the Spirit Realm, where you must go.
If you excavate pyramids across the galaxy you will find runes inscribed under each cardinal direction, and at the tip. Barrow mounds lack these, but if they are erected by a shaman, or other learned practitioner, then they will at least be oriented toward the proper directions, and a sharp object will be placed atop it to represent the tip.
Grave Goods
So what about those Grave Goods? Why are they included so often, in so many cultures? Are people just such greedy *&^%ers that they can't give that fully developed spellblade to their granddaughter? Is that special pipe really going to help you after you're dead?
As it turns out yes, yes they are. It's grisly to consider, but when ancient Terran pharaohs murdered their pets they had two reasons.
First, the journey itself. Mr. Mittens will be your boon companion as you adventure through the Spirit Realm, and with the proper rites he'll become a spectral tiger. Your favorite spellpistol? That's still belted at your side, and you can use it to defend yourself...as long as the real thing is in your tomb, dedicated to you.
Later when you succeed, and reincarnate, so will Mr. Mittens. He will find you in life, his little soul just as intact as yours.
That spellpistol? That's a kind of hoard, or cache, that you've left for yourself. For those who haven't suffered through a freshman archeology course when we say hoard we mean goods deposited with the intent of being recovered. You're coming back for those void stones you buried. That's the opposite of a votive deposit, which isn't meant to be recovered.
I totally recover them anyway, and sell them, because food and fuel.
Anyway, if you succeed and reincarnate you will be pulled inexplicably to your tomb, and you will claim your grave goods. You will take up your sword, or knitting needles, or whatever your particular thing was. You'll inherit your wealth, and knowledge from the previous life. If the ritual is true enough...at the time you discover the tomb you will gain your memories as well.
You will become who you were, but also be who you are. That is the goal of every person who ever took the time to construct a tomb. They want to live forever, in a way that is truly harmonious with the Great Cycle. You are no lich, an unliving fighting the Cycle to maintain your existence.
You become a truly enlightened soul that transcends death.
Constructing a Tomb
Constructing a tomb requires a skilled artificer who understands the geomatic properties of the area where the tomb is to be placed. They can orient the pyramid with a successful navigation check DT 4. This part is the same regardless of the tomb being constructed.
A full tomb requires stone or a similar material to construct with a value equal to the magnitude times 100,000 credits. The goal is a magnitude 5, which provides the best protection. A cool half a million credits will guarantee you your trip around the Cycle, so long as no one messes with it while you're gone, and at least a few people remember who you are and think that's a good thing.
The artificer constructing the tomb makes an artificing check with a DT equal to the tomb's magnitude. A magnitude 3 tomb will require 3 successes. If the check is successful, then a crafter (this does not need to be the same person) makes an open ended crafting check. The better the roll, the nicer the tomb, and the longer it will shield the soul in question. They gain one year for each success.
If you have a couple dozen of the finest crafters in your kingdom working together, and they are using auguries, and spells to enhance their capabilities, then some monarchs enter the Spirit Realm with centuries of full protection.
A hasty tomb doesn't necessarily have to be hastily built, but they are much cheaper and faster to construct. A pile of rocks will do nicely, and dirt or debris are fine in a pinch. Intent matters more than material.
The artificer constructing the hasty tomb makes the same artificing check with a DT equal to the tomb's magnitude. A pile of rocks, a big pile of rocks, will provide the same protection as a pyramid that took your culture a generation to build.
The problem is how long the protections lasts. If you build a full tomb you can hang out and help your descendants. You can give them advice, and tell them what their enemies are doing, or watch them in the bathroom if you're into that sort of thing.
A hasty tomb will protect you for a number of days equal to the successes rolled. Better get moving, son. If your family was bad at blocks, and drunk while building your tomb, then you've got twenty-four hours to reach the Maw, enter the Dream Realm, and find a way to be reborn.
Well built barrows can give wayward souls a week or two to return. If their culture really loved them, that might be months. That's often enough time, and it isn't uncommon for a fifteen or twenty year old spitting image to show up and pick up their phat lootz.
Note that some governments like Shaya legally recognize reincarnation, and consider you to be the person you were in your past life. This isn't always a good thing.
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