Welcome to the Bone Blocks
The Bone Blocks is an affectionate nickname given by the residents to the housing projects surrounding the ancient and recent mass graves in the city.
As life becomes increasingly difficult for the citizens, grave robbing has become not only common, but also an escalating fascination.
What was once a thriving trade for valuable gems and trinkets has now turned into the plundering of skulls and bones for the production of bonemeal and beyond…
Both the act of robbing and the crushing of bones in this line of work are brutal. While money can be earned, one must consider the cost involved.
The Bone Blocks have a dark and mysterious past. Legend has it that the area was once a sacred burial ground for ancient civilizations, with powerful enchantments placed upon the graves to protect the spirits of the departed. But it’s more likely that these are fairytales told to mask the grim reality that these graves are more recent than we’d like to believe… or admit.
What to See
Points of Interest:
- Kyle
- House of the Dead
- Cemetery
- Buy the bones of your beloved before it’s too late!
Disposition:
- Crowd:
- Quick, quiet, busy, distracted
- Merchants:
- Cold, deceptive, soothing, authoritative
Jobs:
- Bone Merchant - sells bones, legal labor
- Robber - retrieves bones, illegal labor
- Crusher - crushes bones, legal labor
- Rusher - runs bones, il / legal sales
Over time, the lore about the graves wore off as the supposed “enchantments” weakened, and the once-sacred land turned into a dwelling place for the desperate and the destitute. The residents, in their struggle to survive, resorted to grave robbing as a means of sustenance. What started as a search for valuable gems and trinkets quickly transformed into a macabre trade of bones and skulls.
The bone merchants, driven by greed and exploiting the desperation of the residents, appeared on the scene, offering to sell the bones of loved ones at questionable prices. The question of how much is too much to pay for the remains of a loved one haunts the minds of those who dwell in the Bone Blocks and beyond.
Amidst the grim atmosphere, there are whispers of a hidden power within the bones. Some say that those who possess the bones of the deceased gain access to their ancient knowledge and abilities. Others believe that the bones themselves hold a dark secret, capable of unleashing chaos and destruction upon the world.
One thing is painfully clear to everyone in the Bone Blocks: You cannot resurrect or reanimated a loved one once their bones have been ground to paste.
As you navigate the treacherous streets of the Bone Blocks, be wary of the shadows that lurk around every corner. The Bone Blocks may be a place of darkness, but there is still a glimmer of hope for those who dare to uncover the truth and seek redemption.
No one plays around in the Bone Blocks. Whether it’s the feeling of being watched and possibly snatched into the shadows or its out of reverence for the dead, the Bone Blocks is a place of determination. You don’t go there for laughs, but you don’t have to go there to die of sadness either. The people are kind and loyal, but please, stay to the crowds!
Market
Spoilers: DM Lore
- Grave robbing has taken a new direction. While some people still rob graves in search of gems and valuables, there is now a market for the bones themselves. Some merchants sell the bones to family members who may want to resurrect or cremate them. However, others immediately sell the bones for bonemeal. This idea is unsettling to most residents, and many make great efforts to retrieve the bones of their loved ones before they are pulverized.
- It is possible that some citizens are unknowingly working jobs where they crush the bones of their loved ones.
- IRL Note — Crushing bones for bonemeal was a practice in the "Workhouses" during the Victorian era. It was seen as a punishment for the poor and resulted in significant physical harm to the workers' hands, often rendering them unable to work again. Capitalism can be incredibly cruel.
- The horror of this situation is heightened when people discover that these graves are from more recent tragedies rather than ancient civilizations.
- It is easy to play with the bones of the long-dead from ancient times, but it is another thing to play with the recently deceased.
- People are reportedly working non-stop just to pay for the bones of their dead loved ones. What a perfect example of capitalism’s horrors on display.
- Timeline:
- There were bodies buried from previous years. People were told not to dig. But as people became more desperate, the curse seemed to “wear off” or so they say. Anything to justify grave robbing. Nowadays, they often find themselves digging in modern graves.
- Grave digging became a sort of fad with the onset of occultism. People go on sort of “dates” to go dig up a body on occasion. Sometimes it is a family act.