Keypahk/Nog Pakmas - Ossuarist

Nog pakmas meant twilight of the bones. It was the name of a famous ossuary in Tales from the Brightlands, a very old book of folk tales and children's stories from desert cultures. However, commoners use the term to refer to a specific type of ossuary found in drier and hotter climates. Outsiders use it to reference the place, the practice, and the workers who serve as ossuarists for handling the dead. The ossuarist who handles the care and ceremonies of the dead is actually called the keypahk. Nog pakmas ossuaries are actually called pak hown (bone house). Naturally, they have individual names which the members. But since they aren't often near other pak hown, most outsider onlyknow of one. So they think all of them as nog pakmas, or worse as a single nog pakma. Even those who inter dead there won't know the correct name of the ossuary.   In a world where burying the dead can supply an army of undead to attack the living, burial of the dead can be very unpopular. Some cultures, often wealthy ones, still build reverent houses for traditional burial or mausoleum storage of the dead. Although, you may find many are bolted from the outside. Pak hownmas are large ossuaries, a home and memorial to the physical dead. They are typical houses of reverence for Sabel (God of the Dying), as well as Ghianeesis (God of the Unwanted), Rageenah (Goddess of the Rebirth), and Scienna (Goddess of Nature). Their functions and ideology being in line with all four. A keypahk performs undertaker duties, especially in drier climates. Many members may be clerics or acolytes to Sabel or one of the others. A pak hown will have a squat round tower, situated up on hills or rocks. The roof is flat, walled, and tilts slightly inward to an open rotunda that continues down into an underground basin. They are always located away from cities, usually standing alone. Their function is something most don't have the stomach for and fears and superstitions make them undesirable even by those who use them when necessary.   Keypahks perform the very ancient practice of laying the dead out on the roof, for the sun and carrion eaters to pick clean. Clutches of vultures or ravens can be seen circling daily. Waiting for a corpse to rot down to the bone takes too much time and, when the dead can walk again as monsters, reducing them to bones quickly is needed. Allowing the natural world to take on the task reflects the ideology of Scienna, goddess of the natural world. Ghianeesis, the Filth Monger cares for what we throw away, the rot, the decaying, the spent. Finding a purpose for what we cast aside and discard is central to his teachings. Taking waste and rot away from where we live is one of his tenets, the basis of sewers and the filth-mongers that cart away refuse. Rageenah's offering of the rebirth, the regenesis is reflected in that the end of one life feeds the life of another creature, instead of burning bodies to ash or risk of burial.   Most pak hown ossuaries are run by Nagpas. These are vulture-like humanoids, sometimes known for collecting esoteric knowledge. Nagpa cultures accept and speak of death regularly, without the taboo or avoidance most cultures exhibit. This makes them very comfortable dealing with the corpses of the dead and the handling of the bones. But it only adds to their ghoulish reputation. Their enemies say they eat the flesh off the corpse's bones like the vultures that circle overhead, devouring your loved ones.   The keypahk will travel to cities with their large wagons to collect the dead. They usually have a more attractive one to collect from wealthy homes. The nagpas are traditionally paid with two coins. When the nagpa comes, the coins would be rubbed together between the fingers of the nagpa as the nagpa would walk around the both three times. The coins were then placed in the hand or over the eyes of the dead. The sound of the two metal coins scraping against each other was said to chase away lost spirits looking for a dead body to steal. Stories say that metals, particularly precious ones hurt such spirits. But in modern practice, it is payment for the service. This is the source of the phrase, "too poor to have two coins to rub together."   Many cultures burn their dead, but cities avoid burning the dead within the city, for the same reason that smiths, smelters, tanneries, limners and others are not allowed within a city proper. They are too dangerous to have among crowded homes. Fires can destroy a city, while caustics and chemicals spread illness and poison the city's wells, and rotting corpses spread disease, Accidents at limner and colliers can cause clouds of poisonous gas that can kill people while they sleep in their beds. Nog pakmas handle the task, safely away from the living, hidden from sight.   Like many ossuaries, it is not a memorial for each death, but for all the dead. The dried bones are cleaned and separated. The insides and catacombs use the bones for beautiful, albeit macabre, decorations. Separating the bones by size and shape prevents their use for the undead. Despite the logical and frugal methods and practices, nagpas and the nog pakmas, retain a ghoulish image.