“ Poison can only ever be the tool of a murderer - as such, alchemists are tightly regulated by the Crown, and anyone found in posession of an unknown substance is forced to taste it themselves.”
“ Somewhere along the line, someone very powerful lost their marbles. Literally. Possessing a marble allows incredible clarity of thought about a particular related subject.”
“ Minor Cultural Modifier: The culture believes, for the soul to leave the body, the corpse' eyes must be open. So any member of that culture takes care any dead body they find has its eyes open. Doubly true for those they kill themselves, for then the corpse will surely rise as an undead hunting him.”