The Last Bite

"It ain’t for the body, love. That crumb’s for the soul, so it don’t claw its way back hungry."

In the harshest corners of Everwealth, where famine walks before sunrise and death looms behind supper, the tradition of “The Last Bite” is a somber, sacred rite of spiritual defiance. Before their final moments, be it due to starvation, execution, or inevitable battlefield death, the lowborn and desperate will offer their last morsel of food to the earth or the sky. A crust of bread, a sliver of meat, or even the steam from one’s breath if nothing else remains, anything to ensure that their soul does not pass into the beyond hungry. This act is a plea, a prayer, and a contract with the unseen, meant to preserve the self and stave off transformation into twisted wanderingh spirits.

History

The tradition is believed to date back to the late into The Great Schism, particularly among the mudbound peoples of the eastern front, who died starving in trenches so deep that even the sun forgot them. With no clerics to guide their souls, and no priests left alive to name them, they offered what little they had to the land or heavens, asking only not to return hollow. Over time, this act became ritual, migrating across Everwealth’s poorest roads and seeping into rural folk practice. Now, nearly every pauper knows the tale of the Hollowfolk, restless dead whose hunger did not die with them, their empty bellies now devouring warmth, dreams, and even names from the living.

Execution

The rite is simple, but the mood is never casual. The morsel is held briefly, sometimes kissed, sometimes wept over. A personal word may be spoken, one’s own name, or a phrase like “May it be enough” or “Leave no hunger in my shadow.” The food is then either placed upon the earth or cast into the sky (especially in open plains or desert regions). In some regions, especially among mercenaries, the Last Bite is followed by silence, as those who witness the rite quietly honor the dying's final will. In more organized settlements, guards or watchmen are known to collect these offerings afterward and place them in communal pits or burn them, both to honor the gesture and to prevent Hollowfolk from tethering to the uneaten scraps. This secondary ritual is often overseen by a local hedge-priest or herbalist, who burns juniper or thornbrush nearby to “cut the soul loose.”

Components and tools

The ritual demands only one thing: the final edible possession of the dying. A rotting turnip, a spoonful of broth, even a swallowed memory of flavor, anything that might have sustained life. No ornate icons or religious trappings, only honesty and surrender. A bowl may be used in communal executions, where multiple Last Bites are collected and buried or burned in honor of the condemned.

Participants

Usually performed alone or with comrades, though priests, soldiers, or family may assist. In execution scenarios, the condemned may be allowed a final meal not for mercy, but to fulfill this rite. In battlefield trenches, commanders may lead the rite before a final, suicidal charge. In villages, a mother might perform it for her child, or vice versa. The one offering does not need to be the one dying, what matters is the sincerity of the gesture.

Observance

There is no fixed calendar for the Last Bite. It is observed only when death is certain and unkind. Times of war, winter famines, or plague outbreaks see the highest rates of observance. Some desperate folk even offer a Last Bite preemptively, “just in case,” especially when departing on dangerous journeys or entering cursed ruins.