Dustmen (The Dead)
Philosophy: WeÂ’re all dead - some more so than others. So, we explore our current state with patience, purge our passion, and ascend toward the purity of True Death.
Factol: Skall.
Sigil HQ: Mortuary (Hive Ward).
Home Field: Negative Energy Plane.
Allies: Bleak Cabal, Doomguard.
Enemies: Society of Sensation, Sign of One.
WITHIN THE RANKS
- Life among the Dead - interesting phrase, ain’t it? Though Dustman characters hear a lot of cracks about their faction’s name, they really don’t care one way or the other about nicknames. After all, they’ve supposedly shucked off all emotion. So they don’t mind being called the Dead, or Dusters or even Dusties (the last not used often, and never within earshot). One story going around the Cage, though, tells of an odd prime who thought herself funny calling them the “Dustbunnies.” She stopped the morning she woke up next to a zombie. (Folks say the zombie had on rabbit ears, but it’s tough credit the dead with such a sense of humor.)
- What’s a body to do among the Dead? Depends on a few things, like race, profession, and ethical inclination. Yet despite the differences among the faction’s various alignments, classes, and races, Dustmen hang together. They all respect death and seek knowledge. Disputes in the faction seldom last long - ’cept for one. See, some Dustmen hope for a return to Life. These so-called Hopeful agree with the Dead‘s primary philosophy: Everyone exists in a multiverse of death. The celebration of Life occurs only in a universe that bashers on this side of the fence can’t find. The Hopeful, stuck on the wrong side, reach for the passionless state of True Death because just beyond it lies the reward: Life. Other Dead consider the Hopeful view foolish and see the group as just a quiet splinter sect. A return to Life might come in time. If not, who cares?
- Druids also lean towards Dustman views ‘cause they don’t get distracted working toward good or evil, law or chaos. This neutral position proves common among the Dustmen. Fact is, the longer a body stays in the Dead, the more his alignment shifts toward true neutral, and only neutral characters can achieve True Death. Chaotics may try to play Dead for a while, but any group whose philosophy centers on “we” (as in “we are all dead”) can’t attract chaotic folks long. Revering death ain’t popular with good people, for that matter.Still, a few Dustmen remain chaotic, or good, or both. A chaotic Dead believes that each person must find a separate path to True Death. And, as thinking everyone is dead doesn’t exactly conflict with good, a good dustman guides himself and others patiently along the path to the next stage of existence. The Dead’s belief in an orderly pattern to the multiverse attracts many who favour law, but the group’s apparent lack of respect for “life” attracts the evil. Well-intentioned Dustmen want their neighbors to advance in death – but most folks believe it’s evil to hope for someone’s demise. Go figure.
- Many wizards, as scholarly, intellectual types, favour the introspection of the Dustmen. This quality also attracts clerics, though the ones who actually join have devoted themselves mainly to gods of death. Dustmen clerics all eventually hit the blinds, however: Religious devotion requires some amount of passion, yet progressing among the Dead means letting go of that passion. Clerics (like Oridi) slowly become less devoted to specific gods and more devoutto Death as a force. The Dead attract few rogues or warriors, since these professions encourage flamboyance and emotion. The infrequent Dustman warrior, a guardian rather than a crusader, becomes a strong, implacable foe. Though the Dead thief loses the passion for stealing, he still can skulk with the best of ’em. The unusual Dustman bard - in demand at funerals - devotes himself to odes and dirges that honor death rather than celebrate life, and he analyzes music and lyric, instead of enjoying it. Now, some claim druids don’t “belong” in the Dustmen any more than bards, yet a surprising number of them do join. See, druids revere nature and see death as a natural progression from life. All life ends in death, right? Once a druid looks at thing-s this way, he’s ready to accept all “life” as merely a stage of death.
RACE
- Most Dead are humans. Some factions say that’s because only humans are gullible enough, to follow Dustman beliefs, but that doesn’t explain the minority of nonhuman faction members from other short-lived species. Seems folks with short life spans tend to sympathize with the Dustman philosophy; they see death more than others do, so they feel closer to it. Most other prime races seem too connected to life to consider the Dead philosophy. For instance, it’s a rare thing to see a Dustman elf, since elves’re a longlived and generally life-loving bunch. A prime elf who joins the Dead has come to embrace death and considers his connection with nature and life a disadvantage, one that hinders him from moving forward to the next stage of existence. The severe githzerai might seem naturals for the Dustmen, but they have a lot of passion to overcome, like their hatred for the githyanki. Tieflings and planar half-elves both “misplaced people,” often accept the way of the Dustmen. However, bariaur prove too carefree, outgoing, and happy for this faction. A bariaur has to get awfully depressed to even consider joining the Dead, and usually that depression keeps him out, as such an emotional tendency would make him unsuitable.
- Most Dustmen are just namers, folks who join the Dead by promising before witnesses to serve the faction and declaring their knowledge that they, like all in the multiverse, have left Life behind. They try to leave their passions behind as well, and succeed in varying degrees. However, the majority of Â’em never approach True Death. Namers work as Collectors and Mortuary aides.Those with promise (and of at least 4th level) become factotums, whom fellow Dustmen call Initiates. The lowest ranking factotums are Initiates of the Fifth Circle. They serve guard duty, perform missions on assignment, and escort visitors and funeral parties. For induction into the Fifth Circle, prospective factotums attend their own funerals, detaching themselves from worldly possessions and making peace with family and friends. Factotums who perform well go through a new initiation to gain the Fourth Circle, then presumably another to proceed straight from Fourth to First. The chant has little to say about these secret ceremonies. The First Circle holds the factol and his factors, and cutters like Trevant advanced there directly from the Fourth Circle. So what ahout the Third and Second Circles? No one knows, not even other Initiates. (Except, presumably, those of the First Circle. - Ed.] The chant around the Mortuary says the Third Circle consists of lesser free-willed undead, like ghasts, wights, and wraiths; liches, spectres, and vampires supposedly make up the Second. One thing sure: No living basber can see through this dark.