Death

"Don't get bitten by a dariga."

— Common sailor's farewell

Death, the defining quality of all mortal beings, and the one almost all of them struggle to avoid on all their actions.

As a cultural, social, mortal creatures, the societarians have dozens of traditions, beliefs and feelings associated with death.
While most cultures of the archipelago fear death, there is beauty and teachings to be found in the differences between how each nation treats their death and dying.

How to die as a Societarian

Civilization and technology made the societarians progressively reach older ages and made violent and sudden deaths less common. The usual causes of death for them are less varied now, but no less different from each other than before.

Old Age

If no unexpected reasons snatch the life out of them earlier, societarians tend to live between 70 and 90 years, after which their bodies, that become frail over time, get progressively less able to heal after the wear and tear that living provokes on one's body.

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Societarian Violence

Armed conflict, civilian attacks and creature attacks, in that order. Besides war and intentional attacks, Thorns is a condition that can make societarians attack and kill others of the same species, though it is fortunately rare and slow enough to prevent casualties derived from it.

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Sickness & poisoning

Societarians are extremely resistant to disease. Wound infection is almost unheard of for them, and in general, they can go through several years without getting bedridden at all. However, they are not immune to toxins like the one on cuppat's skin, and some diseases have been able to take their toll on the populations.
Blackout is an example of a societarian disease that, while now being treatable, has caused terrible, slow death in the past.

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Creature Violence

Tetsus, the other dominant species of the archipelago, have an instinctive, deep hatred of societarians, and will kill them with little to no provocation. They have been the cause of many slaughters like the massacre known as the Four peaks war.
Besides them, many other creatures pose a big threat for societarians, such as darigas being a big concern for sailors, or hapists and hopists snatching children for dinner.

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Accident and disaster

An untimely step, a careless hand, a sudden change in the wind's direction. Turns out variety is also the flavour of death.
While the progression into bigger settlements and safer routes made for a more stable life for societarians, it also created new threats for which the evolution of instinct did not have time to prepare societarians against.
Explosives, sharp tools, a new useful material turning out to be highly toxic and an unending list of anything you can find can turn lethal if you are unlucky enough.

The Rust

Corrosion by Naelín

Technically, a disease. Maybe?
Seven years after the air above turned orange, the Rust or Corrossion has not shown any new cases, though the fear of it coming back prevails, and people try to now keep close to floor level.
The rust ate people, creatures, plants and objects without distinction. It crumbled empires and kickstarted revolutions. It is now a scar many people live with.

Labour of Love by Naelin

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Common