Returning briefly to our earlier discussion of the dead, a hamlet designates a small area, most likely out of the way and high above the waterline (as learned from experience), as "gravesites" for their ancestors. If the bodies are meant to be left out there in perpetuity, then likely they'll be grouped according to family and then clan. On the other hand, many cultures would bury a body in a manner that let the earth reclaim the flesh and leave the bones.
Such burials included a "marker" so the descendents could find the bones again, clean them and store them elsewhere ... and as in the picture, these bones weren't necessarily laid out so as to distinguish one person from another. In some cultures, that didn't matter.
For the purposes of cultural development of villages over hamlets, I'm granting crypts, cemeteries and catacombs equal status. A cave will serve as a crypt; several caves make a catacomb. It really depends on how long the village has been around ... some villages have existed for thousands of years, reaching back into the time of Rameses. I'm suggesting, then, that a hamlet leaves its buried bodies in the ground, scattered in groupings on a hillside, or in a glade; and that a more sophisticated approach carefully preserves the bones in a dry place, or defines a piece of land rigidly as a cemetery — deciding who and who cannot be buried there. Obviously, the local priest decides, as the matter of burial is left to the professionals.
Now, long ago I proposed that a body not given a proper burial — presumedly as the clerical ability and in the appropriate place — would rise as the undead. I'd like to amend that for the sake of the model I'm building. To maintain the body in a state of grace after death, it must be buried according to some procedure, not necessarily provided by a classed cleric (the sage ability is sufficient). To rise as undead, the individual must have spent a "questionable" life. That would describe any and all player characters who have brought about the death of intelligent beings, for the record. Most living persons wouldn't qualify, having been rather weak, cowardly, gentle persons who spent their lives farming and, in many cases, died too young from disease or in childbirth. Still, there's an argument to be made that it's easier to raise undead from a disorganized gravesite than it is from a church-organised cemetery or crypt. That is, unless the crypt is especially organized to house the bones of criminals, blasphemers and the like. That kind of crypt would be a very, very easy place to raise undead from ... and the criminals must be buried and re-buried somewhere.
Just one last foreshadow on this subject; there is such a thing as a "necropolis." This is literally a "city of the dead," where so many bodies are buried that all living persons have abandoned the area. Necropoli have been built specifically in desolate areas, or upon destroyed cities that were never rebuilt, waiting there to be found by a group of hardy adventurers. The only reason I bring it up is because these, too, must exist somehow due to an infrastructure number — i.e., a number of hammers. Since hammers accumulate in very populated areas, and necropoli don't, I haven't quite figured this out. I suppose some kind of designated hitter — er, populated area — will define an existing necropolis such and such a distance away.
Let's put down the dead and move onto the not-quite-dead-but-soon-to-be-made-so: the gallows. This is a convenient word to describe a collection of articles, not always ending in death ... for example, the gibbet, the breaking wheel, the flogging post, the burning post (you know, for witches), the block for chopping heads and the ordinary, far-less-lethal village stocks. These items take the place of rational, reasonable jurisprudence ... and which particular object depends upon the area's culture, religion, climate, degree of education and year-to-year level of violence. The more war a culture experiences, the more likely the repercussions for stealing a chicken will have a more ... mm, final solution than we might find in quaint quiet backwaters, particularly in colder climes when having another set of hands to cut wood makes a people more forgiving. In southern climes, where you can get through the winter on no wood at all, people seem to be more ... dispensable.
This seems an odd "facility," but it nevertheless serves a purpose. The maintenance of law and order is central to civilisation, and as we collect people together there is a greater need for it. On the other hand, law courts and lawyers are in rare supply in large hamlets and tiny villages, so we must turn to other means ... and as a matter of policy, the locals are given to understand the exact circumstances under which each kind of available device can be used — for example, what's appropriate for stealing a chicken.
It does well for players to see the device and learn precisely what gets them there ... because if the whole town decides the right circumstances have occurred, ALL of them will help. For one thing, it makes a different kind of Sunday, and anything different is good. For another, the best way to soothe one's conscience after a trial in the village stocks is to watch someone else get theirs. Call it motivation.
Plus there's always the possibility someone is getting theirs as the players arrive. There would be one person in the village, an executioner ... only no one knows for certain who he or she is, as a hood is worn for that purpose and the executioner never speaks.
Another thing that can turn up in a large hamlet is the guardpost, which is essentially a hovel and a raised platform, from which a single guard can look down and see that all is right. The guard is the final word on disturbing the peace and breaking the law, just like an old west sheriff ... but in this case the guard isn't a "shire reeve" — that's actually a different post. In this case, the guard is a simple constable; there to keep the peace, settle disputes and forward any serious infractions of the law to the local elders and priest of the temple, if the place is large enough. In a type-5 hex with two hammers, it isn't; but in a type-4 with a village, yes, there's a temple. The compass of authority in the town is the constable, who is the eyes and ears of the elders, who turn to the priest for advice. If a matter turns out to be something not local, the local squire might be consulted, and word sent to the nearest noble to send a troop, who then move in unilaterally to deal with it. Such cases include widespread heresy or an uprising ... including a refusal to pay taxes. Otherwise, not much can occur to get outsiders involved.
Should the players make a pest of themselves, likely they'd be gone before a troop could arrive. As such, members of the town will join in and help the constable. Rest assured, it won't be the film High Noon. The locals aren't soft. Many of them have joined together to rid the village of wolves and other vermin, participated in hard brutal sports such as wrestling, fisticuffs and tossing heavy objects ... and participated in honour killings as well, not to mention the foregoing executioner. Add to this a few who have gone abroad, seen battle and come back. It's a bone of contention with me, where players assume rural folk are weak, 2 h.p.-bearing easily killable wimps, but the idea is just the sort invented by suburban mamma's boys without rural relatives to visit. Country people in my youth were hard; and were nothing compared to their fathers and grandfathers, who grew up on farms without electricity or tractors. A 14th to 17th century farmer, especially in honour-cultures like the Irish, the Scots, the Slavs or the Italians, would have given a 4th level PC as good as he or she could take. It's a misnomer to assume these people can't fight, have no experience, next to no skills and therefore a dearth of hit points. That's the ignorance of someone who grew up in a pretty house with sidewalks, thinking the whole world is paved or covered in mowed grass.
Well, I've got a long way to go. We'll take these three at a time I suppose.
Maybe a Necropolis could form in any 0-Hammer hex that was surrounded by X number of hammers? I guess it depends on how far away you'd want such a location to generate from Type 1 or 2 Hexes, since it seems like such places would prefer to keep that kind of thing "in house".
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