I have a fallen roman/Egyptian/Japanese empire which had ancestor worship as its official religion.
Centuries after the fall only scattered enclaves of this culture exist and in one of these places the ruling family has turned to demon worship. In so doing they have discovered that the interred remains of countless generations of their people hold great magical power - if properly extracted. Ancestor worship isn't proscribed per se, but is no longer 'officially' approved of, with only the lower classes still practicing it.
One of my characters will be starting with a background as a member of a village/extended family/stonemasons who were caretakers to one of these sets of tombs. It may be that they have already been looted and the character will need to go on a Heroic Quest to avenge his people.
Is anyone aware of published material which I could leverage that might help fill in some of the cultural blanks?
DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd[Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player] Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale Ru's Current Status
I have a fallen roman/Egyptian/Japanese empire which had ancestor worship as its official religion.
Centuries after the fall only scattered enclaves of this culture exist and in one of these places the ruling family has turned to demon worship. In so doing they have discovered that the interred remains of countless generations of their people hold great magical power - if properly extracted. Ancestor worship isn't proscribed per se, but is no longer 'officially' approved of, with only the lower classes still practicing it.
One of my characters will be starting with a background as a member of a village/extended family/stonemasons who were caretakers to one of these sets of tombs. It may be that they have already been looted and the character will need to go on a Heroic Quest to avenge his people.
Is anyone aware of published material which I could leverage that might help fill in some of the cultural blanks?
Eberron's elves might be a good start.
DM: Adventures in Phandalin [Khessa], The Dread of Strahd [Darya], Dragons of Stormwreck Isle [Rook], Baldur's Gate Mysteries [4-Player]
Player: Oona in MO's Icewind Dale
Ru's Current Status
While it's not a WOTC/DnD publication, the dark elves/dunmer of The Elder Scrolls have a really fascinating variation of ancestor worship that you may find inspiring. Here is a transcription of the in-game text Ancestors and the Dunmer, which describes it in some detail. You could maybe crib some of it for your own setting.
"We're the perfect combination of expendable and unkillable!"