Burial Byroad

At the time of *The First Era of Galdos*, the Reign of the Affluosa, at the spot where the disgusting ***Burial Byroad*** now rests there was once a large, peaceful and bustling farming community known simply as ***The Farmlands***. Each farm specialized in different crops and was hugely profitable given how close they were to The *City of Valdodicus.*

Come *The Second Era of Galdos,* when the wave of squatters arrived to settle beyond its walls, they turfed out the piles upon piles of *Affluosa* corpses- dumping them all over The Farmlands. The farmers could not bury the bodies as their own superstitions led them to believe this would ruin what little was left of their crops. But they could not burn the bodies as this was strictly forbidden in *Affluosan* Culture, and the farmers dare not harm their reputation any more. If the farming community was not already struggling enough, now they had hundreds of corpses to deal with.

One farmer, Jakob, had a sick but practical thought. Tensions were still brewing with the mountain tribe and the farmers knew that, any day now, the tribe would march upon the Farmlands again. He proposed that the farmers offer up the *Affluosa* corpses to *Geot’s* Cannibal tribe as food, as a peace offering. The other farmers were disgusted with *Jakob*. The *Affluosa* were kind, decent, cultured people who deserved a better ‘send off’ than being eaten by homeless savages.

In defiance of their decision, *Jakob* chose to head up the mountains alone to propose the deal to Geot. But he was not the only farmer who took matters into their own hands.

***Carver*** was the only farmer to regularly leave the Farmlands. He ran the distribution chain, delivering the crops of the other farmers to far-flung locals. As a result he had a far better understanding of the wider world, and connections all over.

Just South of The Monastery was a rich community/town of elite aristocrats and ‘old money families’ called *Prosperia*. In the dead of the night, the very same night Jakob departed to rendezvous with *Geot*, Carver departed for *Prosperia* to meet with a rich aristocrat called ***Jacinda***. She had a secret, and he knew it. ***Jacinda*** was the leader of a top secret, and exclusive, society of extraordinarily wealthy individuals who would spend great deals of money on getting their hands on the rarest of meats to indulge in grossly lavish dinner parties. Sometimes they would even collect the last of a dying animal species and make it go fully extinct in one night by devouring the last living specimens with wine. The “unique” culinary pursuits of ***Jacinda*** and her cronies had even tipped over into the regular consumption of human meat. With the *Affluosa* being the most highly regarded and respected human society in all living memory, ***Carver*** had hoped that Jacinda would be willing to pay a fortune for the bodies as she was a classier kind of cannibal than *Geot*.

Up in the mountains, Geot took Jakob’s deal. He led his tribe to The Farmlands to collect the bodies. In ***Prosperia***, Jacinda took ***Carver’s*** deal- sending a hired army to collect the bodies. They arrived at The Farmlands at the same time, both feeling the pile of corpses belonged to then. A full-scale war between *Geot’s* Tribesmen and *Jacinda’s* Army erupted, with the poor farmers trapped in the middle.

Amidst the chaos the farmers knew they had to fight for their own survival, but had little knowledge of battle. Improvising, they ripped skin from *Affluosa* corpses and used it as leathery armour. They ripped bones out of bodies, sharpened them, and used them as spears. The Cannibal War raged for thirty days, totally decimating what little was left of the Farmlands. The Farmers sided with *Jacinda’s* Hired Army and, together, all but wiped out *Geot’s* Tribesmen. The totally ruined fields were now littered with more bodies than ever before. But *Jacinda* still bought an abundance of corpses and, for the first time in a long time, the Farmlands received a colossal injection of cash. Though at first the farmers planned to rebuild the farmlands, Carver had a different proposal. Nobody had wanted their crops for a long time. The City of *Voldodicus* had been their main customers and now had descended into becoming *The Lawless City of Shame*, they had little-to-no need for what the Farmlands had to offer. But these events taught them the value of a dead body. While the economy of The Farmlands had been generated exclusively from farming, ***Carver*** proposed they re-shape into a community that built its economy around corpses instead.

The people of the Farmlands wore their gruesome win proudly on their sleeves, never repairing the damages the buildings endured- leaving them as signs of their ‘character’ and ‘legacy.’ With the millions of gold pieces acquired from Jacinda, ***Carver*** led the farmers as they paved over their muddy, destroyed fields with grey pavement and rocky paths. Over the years The Farmlands turned into a town and, to fully embrace the grim past that made this possible, the area changed its name from The Farmlands to ***Burial Byroad.***

From the dawn of *The Third Era of Galdos t*o the end of *The Seventh Era of Galdos*, the people of Burial Byroad focused on one thing and one thing only: generating income from corpses. With Jacinda’s money allowing them to, over a few years, build a fully functioning town that totally covered the long-forgotten farms- the next step was ensuring a regular turnaround of bodies.

As the years rolled by, the people of Burial Byroad found more and more ways to make money from bodies, and the whole town life revolved around it, creating different "jobs" in connection to harvesting and creating more fresh corpses for trade.

Key Locations in Burial Byroad, as of the Eighth Era, include:

* **The Chopper’s Slab**: The team of women and men who slice up their bodies so that the severed parts can be delivered to their respective industries are known as Choppers and, in the current era, their chief is a man named Carver, named after the aforementioned man from The Second Era. Chopper’s Slab is the grim, sordid, back-alley row of abattoirs from where they do their work.
* **Rose’s Trinkets**: Established a few decades before the start of the game by a woman named Rose and now run by a woman called Celeste. “Rose’s Trinket’s” sells Pearlies, Rattlers, Candle Holders, Dog Treats, Bone Spice and Blood Paint.
* **Finders Keepers**: a shop that sells items found on dead people’s bodies.
* **Jakob’s Armoury**: Named in reference to The Farmlands resident who brought *Getos*’ tribesmen to the farms and helped trigger The Great Cannibal War. A place to buy weapons, made of bones, and armor, made of skin.