Corpsepoker

A Forbidden Field of Science

That old man seems like a bit of a creep. Wouldn't be surprised if he was a real corpsepoker too.

— Paranoid villager

Corpsepoker is the name given to those who actively seek to conduct research on the victims of fatal ailments. They were relatively common in the old Rahyamin Empire, but after the country's collapse, most of the new free realms of Pekkola outlawed the profession. The practice of mutilating a dead body for science is seen as deeply offensive to the deceased and their living families.

Operations

The cultures of Pekkola share a measure of distrust for those who would refuse to bury their dead as soon as possible. In the warm and distant lands to the South, however, such is the way of life. When there has been a death in the family, a household will take their deceased to a medical professional who could determine the cause of death and learn all they could from the body.

Study of Diseases

One of the primary tasks of a corpsepoker is the study of various diseases. They poke the dead who have contracted ailments such as smallpox, leprosy or the bubonic plague to see how the affected parts of the body react to being pierced with needles. At times they are forced to cut the victim apart, revealing their innards and the organs affected by whatever disease killed them.

Public Servants of the Empire

During the height of the Rahyamin Empire, many corpsepokers were well-respected and often employed by their local governments or the royal family to carry out experiments in the name of progress. There were claims that with the protection granted to them by the nobility, corpsepokers could cut apart living subjects from the dungeons.

Type

Medical

Banned in Pekkola

Following the empire's collapse in the aftermath of the civil war, most of the free peoples of Pekkola forbid the activities of corpsepokers.
Those who seek to practise the old arts of the corpsepokers must do it in secret or in service of a noble with fewer qualms about morals.