/morig/
Philosophy
◐ The foreign perception of Deadbeat views on the human experience and the truth can diverge strongly.
Many assume Deadbeats are all members of a great death cult; a straightforward conclusion, given their worship of Death itself. However, death worship differs massively from death cultism. The latter incorporates a desire, even a pressing urge to stride through the final door, to seek a salvation, an escape, a higher state, a reward. Loving Mori does not require hastening one's meeting with her, rather, it means Death should be accepted, understood, and embraced when the time comes. Arbitrarily causing one's demise is considered a waste of a good death, and interferes with one's reunion with the Goddess. To properly understand Deadbeat mindsets and approaches to life, absorbing this philosophy and its central concepts is useful. A good introduction to this subject would the idea of Ilim, Mori's universal blessing.
Ilim
◐ Ilim is the most fearful thing to the unprepared, but an old friend to Deadbeats.
Ilim (lit. Death's Radiance) is the light at the end of the tunnel, the moonshine watching over those who pass in a dark and lonely night. It embraces the grieving child and shows the way in a life alongside Death. Ilim is the comfort of a serene end, and the catharsis of the consummated struggle. Ilim is the primary tenet from which the study of philosophical thanatology stems, and a fundamental aspect the Death worship of Deadbeats past and current.
Politics
Governance
The history of ruleship in Morijigoku is a gruesome and tumultuous one. Deadbeats seem disinclined towards authority, or generally against all agreeing on a single thing. As such, the various regions of the land exist in a constant state of diplomatic push and pull with usually short-lived flare-ups of active hostility. Only the cities nearest the heart of the Ilimyth Valley seem to have a smoother political history, due to the overwhelming and stabilizing influence of the Ilim Temples' lukur. In the desolate wastes of the South, or the lush forests of West, the various rulerships exist in a careful balance of mutual benefit and unity under the Goddess.
Anthropology
Anatomy
Appearance
Unlike many ethnicities throughout the world, there is no ambiguity as to whether one is faced with a Deadbeat; if the individual has undergone deadbeatification, this fact is immediately obvious. An affected individual has a snow-white skin and lighter hair than before their transformation, ranging from platinum blonde to grey and white, as well as pale pink for more magically attuned individuals. The iris also shifts towards the red, leading to purple, pink, crimson or orange shades, depending on the person's original eye color.
Deadbeats also have a peculiar relationship with temperature. In warm weather (~30 degrees Claragrade) the average Deadbeat has a thin body, with features such as visibly distinct muscle groups, and a generally lanky appearance. As the ambient temperature decreases, moisture is stored in the Deadbeat's muscles and skin in a tissue similar to packed snow in properties and appearance, increasing their bulk, reaching a maximum around 0C. This has a slight beneficial effect on the individual's endurance and strength, offsetting the added mass which must be carried.
On the other hand, as the temperature increases, the Deadbeat grows more emaciated, reaching a truly skeletal appearance around 40C. Surprisingly, despite this extreme dehydration, there are few adverse symptoms to this condition. As the skin grows taut over rib and bone, the muscles contract to a small volume while retaining most of their strength. This state is commonly referred to as "Skeletalism".
Physical activity on the Deadbeat's part also has an effect. Strenuous effort increases one's internal temperature, and accordingly one's skeletalism. It is expected for Deadbeat warriors to begin a battle with a more mundane appearance and grow utterly skeletal by its end, even if they are still hale and hearty, and even in cooler weather.
Beauty standards, especially among females, trend towards a fuller, colder figure being preferable, as this makes one closer to the ideal of the bodacious Goddess of Death in appearance. For this reason, especially in warmer climates, thick coats are a popular clothing choice. This allows the Deadbeat's body to be warmed less by the hot ambient air, and preserve the cold generated by their internal magic, lowering their temperature. Internal temperatures lower than usual can also be observed in individual with a strong magical attunement; especially powerful Isib may see their body remain below the freezing point even in tropical climates.
Urban Planning
Law and Order
Morijigoku has an unusual approach to its legal system, wherein it's theologically motivated, and staffed by members of the various religious orders. This aspect gives it a reputation for being somewhat antiquated in other countries, but satisfaction with its outcomes is high in the population.
Its foremost feature is that a set of crimes are considered blasphemous: unholy deaths, which include suicide and killing by any individuals who lack the priesthood's blessing to deal death, and true necromancy, which requires the reinstallment of the soul in a deceased body (This nuance makes the puppeting of corpses a much lesser crime). Being found guilty of any of these will lead to a ritualistic death forsaking one from the honours due all deaths, with the details of the death varying based on the local denomination. The sacred scythe is never used in these, as it is reserved for holy deaths. Beheading with a sword is most common, though the stabbing of the heart with a dagger is also frequent.
In smaller communities, rituals intended to inflict pain alongside death exist. "Separation" is a process wherein each limb is taken from the forsaken one through amputation, starting with the arms, legs, and finally head, though the individual usually passes out from shock by the second arm, and will quickly bleed out from the untreated leg amputation. Most fearsome is the "Breaking", in which every bone of the body is expertly broken, one by one from the fingertips to the shoulder joint, from the toes to the hip bone, and finally from the coccyx up the spine to the skull. There are no records of a criminal surviving much past the start of the "spine" phase of the process. Such barbarous rituals are unseen in larger cities, and only found in more remote communities.
For lesser crimes, corporeal punishment is preferred to imprisonment, as the keeping of men in prisons as cattle is considered an uncouth and dishonorable retribution; amputation of fingers for grand theft, castration for rape and lashings for misdemeanors such as venial theft, unsanctified dueling with no fatalities, or trespassing. This makes criminals easily identified, but the populace's general confidence in the system's ability to curb recidivism allows them to be relatively smoothly re-integrated into society, though a portion of disdain from some is always present.
History
Origins
The fate of the first deadbeat is shrouded in ancient mystery, veiled by eons of forgotten history. Detractors say the first deadbeat was cursed by the divines to this inhuman form for his heretical worship of the Heavenly incarnation of Death. Deadbeat theologists assure that deadbeatification is a blessing granted by Mori to her beloved followers. Mordimdimen agree that regardless of the first case's cause, deadbeatification in the current day is achieved through two paths: for the convertee, the process can be started by hammering a magically attuned Reaper's Eye gem into his or her skeleton. The sternum is commonly chosen, though any part works, with the forehead being another popular choice for the most zealous. The other path is through birth; a fembeat will henceforth give birth to deadbeat children. This is a critical aspect of the process, as a human fetus wouldn't be able to survive in the colder womb of a fembeat, whereas the deadbeat biology is adapted to it.
Looking beyond how they came to be, the oldest found evidence of Deadbeat settlement predates the Deconjugation Hyperwar. On the surface, continuous resettlement of the region has wiped away most ancient hints, but exploration of the catacombs beneath the Ilimyth Valley led to the re-discovery of alum that could only belong to the ancient Death Angels used in the legendary conflict, based on residual magical readings.
In the current day, the Ilimyth Valley is still the most settled part of Morijigoku, though immigration to the coastal cities alongside the Arazan Bay have led to such population growth, these are now beginning to rival the cradle of Deadbeat civilization in population.