Whispercoin Burials

“Every soul earns its name, and every name its silence. But not all silence is peace.”

In the lands of Everwealth, where war, collapse, and ruin leave thousands unburied, the living have devised many ways to honor the dead. Of all such rites, the Whispercoin Burial remains among the most haunting and poetic. Originating from Dwarfish enclaves where collapsing mines made traditional funerals impossible, the practice has since spread across battlefields and into quiet riverbanks, carried by traveling mourners and gravewatchers. When a body cannot be recovered, a single coin is engraved with the name of the deceased and buried in their stead, often accompanied by the final words spoken about or by the lost soul. These coins, whispered into and left beneath earth, stone, or silt, are believed to act as spiritual anchors, tokens the soul may one day retrieve on its passage to the afterlife. The coin is not payment for death, but a down payment on peace.

History

The earliest known Whispercoins date back to the twilight of The Great Schism, when Dwarfish miners trapped beneath a fallen mountain left only echoes in their wake. With no bodies to burn, bury, or mourn, the survivors of Deephall carved names onto their last copper coins and placed them into the rubble. They whispered messages into the stone, believing that sound might travel where no body could. The tradition expanded with time. Mercenaries, soldiers, and gravewatchers began carrying spare tokens with etched names, especially in campaigns where explosive magick or monstrous beasts left nothing behind. As faith in the afterlife grew more fractured, Whispercoins became a hedge against spiritual erasure, a final whisper, a final offering, when no tomb could be found. Now, the practice is sacred across many corners of Everwealth. Villages mark their dead with iron. Aquian even, far removed from mainland Everwealthy society still honor the custom, using carved bone or smooth driftwood. In the silent trenches of Bordersword, soldiers press wax-stamped names into buttons or bullet casings, burying them in old helmets when death comes too swiftly.

Execution

Creating a Whispercoin is simple, but the act is steeped in quiet ritual. The mourner must first speak the deceased's name aloud, followed by any final message they wish to pass along, a confession, a memory, or a last kindness. This whisper must be the only sound heard when the coin is offered. Then, using a knife or engraver, the mourner inscribes the name and sometimes a symbol representing the person (a hammer for a smith, a flame for a soldier, etc.). The coin is buried in a place tied to the dead: the site of collapse, the edge of a battlefield, or near a flowing river that might carry it onward. In rare cases, coins are placed inside trees or stone crevices to “listen” forever. Coins must not be buried in haste, folk believe the soul cannot find what was offered without intent. Whispercoins should never be disinterred. Grave robbers and scavengers who uncover them report persistent whispering at night, sometimes in unknown languages, sometimes repeating the very words etched upon the token. A few disappear entirely. The gravewatcher sect known as the Chapel of Echoes keeps vaults of reclaimed Whispercoins, guarded not for their gold, but for the voices trapped within.

Components and tools

A blank coin or small metal token (copper preferred, though iron, bone, or shell are used when available), a blade or engraving tool, a quiet place for ritual speech, and a burial location with emotional or symbolic weight.

Participants

While anyone may bury a Whispercoin, tradition holds that close kin, blood-sworn comrades, or those present at the death bear the greatest right. Gravewatchers often perform communal Whispercoin ceremonies for mass death sites. In Dwarfish enclaves, elders sometimes serve as Echo Bearers, chosen to remember the words spoken into each coin, should the soul return seeking answer.

Observance

The rite is performed as soon after death (or confirmed loss) as possible. In wartime, it is sometimes observed during nightly watch shifts, when the camp is quiet. During large public commemorations, Whispercoin Masses may be performed, with dozens of tokens buried in consecrated soil as bells toll to guide the dead toward their names.