During one trip to Riverwood, an Ancient Dragon attacked. I fought, as the city folk and guards came to assist. However, a married couple who rushed to my aid took the worst of it. I forget their names, but they were the relatives of that Imperial soldier who had brought me to that village in the beginning. They were gracious to let me use their home as I got myself situated in the world of Skyrim.

The wife was sent into the river as she perished, and her husband lay slain by the sawmill, hand clutching his steel warhammer. After I'd slain the Ancient Dragon, a crowd came to gape at the corpse of the once-majestic creature, paying no heed to the dead laying at their feet.

Mindful that the river would actually carry buoyant objects downstream, I leapt after the slain wife's body and retrieved it before it could escape my reach. I proceeded to carry the body, with much effort, to where her husband had been cut down.

I laid the woman next to him, in a respectful manner and arranged their bodies so that they would lay in state.

Something occurred to me as I did this, and would be a minor triviality for adept modders: Why didn't Bethseda include some way to properly give the deceased their appropriate treatment?

So, I got to thinking. We need an Undertaker NPC, or some player-run method to provide the dead their last rites. I do not know what the individual races' traditions are regarding burial/disposal of the remains of their kin, and I'll probably do some research on this matter.

Here's how the latter method would work: You come across a dead body. Your inventory contains a scripted item that gives you a pop up when you interact with the corpse: "Undertaker Duty" - "Search Body"

If you choose the former, you're given two options: bury the body (if outdoors on dirt), or send it to a local cemetery/Hall of the Dead for proper treatment.

The rest, I'm sure you can figure out.

What do you think?