Funerary Rituals

As life begins, so it must eventually come to an end. On Nascindor, the traditions relating to death and burial are many and sometimes dividing. However, death is a unifying concept between species who often differ greatly and as alien as one might seem to the other, all can understand loss and find common ground in coping with it.

Humanity and Death

The great city-states of humanity, each home to a culture of their own, all have unique burial rites.

Glarithia

Glarithia, being the cradle of humanity on Nascindor and the heart of the Church of Resounding Truth, has several ways to approach the passing of a loved one. Perhaps the most prevalent of these is a ceremony referred to as departure. The deceased is preserved, dressed in robes of white linen and placed to lie down on a stone slab in a private chamber of a chapel or cathedral.

Loved ones of the deceased are allowed to and encouraged to visit during the 24 hours that the departed is kept in the chamber. The intention is for those near to the deceased to gather in a private setting to grieve, reminisce and celebrate the life of their loved one. Departures often act as places of mending for families that might have fractured in the past, with feuding family members putting aside their differences to honor the passage of one dear to them.

Departure halls, as these chambers are often called, are replete with all the sounds of the different stages of grief. There is weeping and desperation, but also joy and laughter. The family members of the departed are allowed to bring food and drink to the halls, and many also bring instruments to lighten the mood or to perform dirges. After the 24 hours are up, the relatives and friends of the deceased are urged to give their final goodbyes before the cadaver is transferred to its final resting place, be it a graveyard or a mausoleum.

Telothia

Due to the fact that virtually every Telothian citizen spends their life in the service of the Telothian Legion to varying degrees, deceased citizens of the military capital are paraded through the streets and ultimately delivered to the undercrofts of the chapels that exist within the walls of the city-state, where they are given a final blessing before cremation.

The caskets of the deceased are decorated with bundles of Scarlet Bells, bright red flowers that grow at the foot of the mountains of the Mistclad Cordillera and are considered a kind of national symbol of Telothia. In the undercrofts, Telothian legionnaires stand beside the casket as the clergy blesses the departed, their presence honoring the service the individual had rendered to the legion in life, and it is they that ultimately set the casket alight.

For logistical reasons, it is customary for these processions to include more than one deceased at a time, unless said deceased was someone of especial importance.

Druvenia

Druvenian customs regarding funerals are considered near blasphemous by the other city-states. The unheeded dead are gathered in carts and wheeled outside the city walls where they are buried in unmarked graves. This, however, is only the stance of the Sullen Council, who do not forbid any alternative rituals should those near to the dead wish to observe such.

In the case of a loved one passing, Druvenians usually observe a ceremony similar to the Glarithian departure, though these are often much shorter and once they end, the cadaver is relinquished to the roaming carts anyway. This is done because Druvenians believe that the body that is left behind is just flesh and that the spirit has already moved on.

Pluthem

As magic is such an important part of everyday life in Pluthem, it only makes sense for it to also be utilized in the funerary rites of Pluthemians. However, Pluthem is also known for its frauds, which have no qualms about profiting off of the misfortune of others.
Grieving friends and relatives often pay exorbitant sums to charlatans who claim they can contact the departing spirits of the deceased, but this is a scam designed to prey on those with little understanding of the Tapestrum Arcanum. Those with true aptitude in the arcane arts, however, understand that communicating with the departed is not possible, and simply offer the bereaved a chance to relive memories of their loved ones through magical illusions and projections.

These skilled practitioners, known as Remembrancers, use their abilities to create immersive experiences that allow mourners to revisit cherished moments shared with the departed. From recreating joyful celebrations to capturing quiet, intimate moments, Remembrancers provide a sense of closure and comfort to those left behind, even after the deceased has already been buried.

Wapemond Harbor

As a port town, Wapemond Harbor often incorporates the sea in its rituals and rites, and those relating to burials and farewells are no exception.

One unique tradition involves crafting intricate driftwood coffins adorned with sea shells and seaweed, in which the departed return to the embrace of the ocean. The deceased is laid to rest within these symbolic vessels, carried gently to the water's edge by a procession of mourners. As the tide begins to recede, the coffin is set afloat, allowing the currents to carry it away, the Arcansea claiming the body while the soul is believed to abscond into its destined afterlife.

The friends and family of the departed sing shanties in celebration of the life lived, choosing to rejoice in the memories and experiences shared with the departed rather than dwell on the sorrow of their passing. It is customary for the members of these processions to spend the rest of the day in one of the many inns of the port town, sharing stories about the departed over tankards of rum.

Onset-1

Onset-1 is in a culturally unique position, as it is a city-state inhabited by two distinct species, both of which are utterly different from eachother, yet at the same time so very similar.

The S'aue of Onset-1 have influenced their human contemporaries insofar as matters of spirituality are concerned. The humans of the city-state have adopted the pragmatic approach to death and dying that the machine-men espouse. When a human passes away, their name and deeds are immortalized in bronze plaques that are hung up in communal spaces so that the legacy lives on even when the person does not.

Arachnithan Burial

The spider-people of Nascindor, the Arachnitha observe perhaps the most curious rituals relating to death. In most burrow-homes, when a member of the clutch dies, they are placed upon a boulder in the outskirts of the burrow-home and the young of the clutch are invited to consume the cadaver. The Arachnitha believe that this practice establishes a profound connection between generations, with the leaving generation imparting not only their wisdom and knowledge to the younglings but also support to their growth in a very literal, physical sense.

This ritualistic cannibalism is considered especially sacred when a father or mother is consumed by their own offspring, being the most direct generational transference. Furthermore, the act of consumption is not seen as morbid or repulsive but as a solemn and reverent duty, a part of the Turning of Skins. It is a way for the young to honor their predecessors and to carry forward their legacy.

Curiously, the S'aue, the machine-men who themselves are recycled at the ends of their lives so that their constituent parts may be used for the construction of new S'aue, harbor an understanding attitude towards the Arachnitha's rituals. Despite their vastly different forms and methods of passing knowledge and experience, the S'aue recognize the importance of generational continuity and the preservation of heritage.

The majority of humanity, however, views the Arachnitha's burial rituals with a mix of fascination and revulsion. The concept of consuming the deceased, even in a symbolic and meaningful context, clashes with the deeply ingrained cultural norms of the city-states.

S'aue mortality

The S'aue, for their part, do not have a concept for death, per se. Eventual deactivation or decommissioning and subsequent recycling is the expected and accepted end-of-life scenario and it is considered a great honor by the majority of the S'aue to be reused in such a way. While it is certainly possible for S'aue to extend their lifespans many times over, only a few actually do. This is because the vast majority of S'aue have a strong sense of duty and dignity, not wanting to seem self-absorbed or to fail the greater collective for personal gain.

The S'aue, devoid of emotional attachments or fear of mortality, celebrate this process as a way to honor their commitment to their empire.

by Midjourney

_{A Telothian funeral ceremony, legionnaires paying their respects to the departed.}

by Midjourney

_{Remembrancers harvesting memories from a space at the behest of a client.}

by Midjourney

_{A deceased Arachnitha, placed upon a ritual boulder to be consumed by spiderlings.}

by Midjourney

_{A decommissioned S'aue, ready for recycling.}