Mark the Flesh Incorruptible

Rules

Performing the Ritual

Performing this ritual takes at least 10 minutes of roleplaying. During the ritual the casters must be in a strong Winter regio. If the ritual is cast using the Imperial Regio it requires at least 5 minutes of roleplaying instead. The ritual targets a corpse. The target remains must be present throughout, and close enough to touch.

Effects

This rite preserves the physical remains of a dead person, preventing desiccation, decomposition and putrefaction. Parasites, vermin and scavengers will avoid the body and refuse to consume the dead flesh.

This ritual transubstantiates the dead flesh into a material similar to stone.

The effect is permanent.

Description

This ritual serves several purposes. It preserves a corpse from natural forces of decomposition, and is often used for the same reasons as embalming - to maintain the body from the ravages of time. Many consider it much more respectful than traditionally invasive embalming techniques. It also makes the corpse hard to damage, without notably increasing its weight. Both of these factors make it a practical ritual to use when a corpse must be transported over long distances for some reason, especially in the hot summer months.

The effect is permanent, and in theory this should be very difficult without the use of ilium. Magical scholars point to the necessity of performing the ritual in a regio, and that it is the nature of Winter magics to endure (they reference the tendency of curses to last for a year as an example). There are also a number of magicians who suspect that the process of flesh being transformed to a stone-like material might be a natural process, pointing to the odd desiccation that effects some corpses, or the way limestone can entomb an item or body.

This ritual is almost invariably performed on the body of a dead Emperor or Empress before they begin their final journey to Necropolis. It is not popular in either The Marches or among the Navarr who prefer natural processes to deal with the corpses of their loved ones. The ritual sees most use among the Highborn magisters, partly because so many of them are also priests and combine the rite with a funeral ceremony.

Versions of Mark the Flesh Incorruptible have clearly been in use for a very long time. Explorers have more than once disturbed undead or unliving guardians who have clearly been treated with ritual effects that preserve them shortly after the point of death, but do nothing to prevent them moving around.

Common Elements

The most common elements of this ritual are fresh water - especially snowmelt - and ash. The body is usually cleaned, and a little ash scattered over it or mixed with oil to draw the runes Yoorn and Evrom, one over each eye, in hopes of resurrection. The performance of this ritual is usually quiet and understated, and often combined with a funeral rite or at least a eulogy.