Memor Nekrd
Amongst the Krenide, birth isn't valued all that much. There is a basic record keeping of when someone was born and the nation Krenid handles such things. However, little to no cultural significance is given to more than someone's approximate age. What matters more is the day the person dies.
Long ago there was a Curse on the land by the Raven Queen. Souls here are unable to move on after death unless they have proven themselves to the Raven. Thus, when they die, they take on a new form rather than pass to whichever plane they are supposed to. Some are trapped in their dead flesh while others are fading spectres. In any of these shapes, they are trapped in an agony of not being able to reach the living and not being able to join the dead. All their loved ones can do is try to encourage them and seek the forgiveness of the Raven Queen.
The Memor Nekrd is celebrated as a form of a wake for the deceased. It then repeats every year on the day of their death for as long as there are signs of their spirit still being around, and then one. To the Krenide, these celebrations are just as much a form of a birthday as those other cultures celebrate for the living.
Execution
Unlike most gatherings amongst the Krenide, the Memor is considered a happy occasion. Sweet cakes and treats are served by the family or friends of the one being celebrated. Wearing colourful masks or face paints depicting skulls or other death symbols is common. Most wear jewellery in black, blue, red, or purple. Some might resort to coloured glass, but everyone will wear something. It is also common to decorate with feathers out of respect for the Raven Queen, but these are always collected and never taken from living birds by force.
Other decorations, on cakes, trinkets, or clothes, often have more symbols of death or birds.
During the event, those who were, or are, closest to the celebrated dead, will hold some speech in their honour. This is always angled to show the Raven Queen why the spirit is worthy of moving on. If possible, the deceased themselves will make an appearance before an altar to the goddess of death to seek her forgiveness. More than once, this has been the time when a spirit has been granted freedom. Which, in turn, leads to an even more extensive celebration.
Participants
The immediate family are the ones who are primarily responsible for making sure the Memor Nekrd happens. Spouses first, then children, then parents, then grandchildren. If there is no family or the family refuses, friends will fill the role. If there is no one willing to celebrate the dead, they often attempt to do it themselves. This is, if anything, even more sad than someone in other cultures eating a birthday cake alone with no one to join them. It might also hasten the creation of an angry spirit who will lash out at anyone without hope of finding peace.
Related Ethnicities
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