The Great Return
A Rurzani grave is recognizable by two things: the circular stone marker and the direction in which it is dug. The latter tradition stems from one of their oldest stories, one of heroics and sorrow.
The Way to the Mountain
Many years ago, a terrible storm struck the Rurzun Mountains and washed the peaks straight clean. Giant mudslides made the mountains dangerous all the way down to the foothills, and so the Rurzani, the local people, had to flee. They walked for eight days and eight nights straight until they found safety on lands so flat there was only sky on the horizon. When the sun rose on the ninth day, they started their journey back home.
Leading them was a woman so good at tracking she could find a deer with a three day disadvantage in rainy weather. Everybody trusted her to find them their way home, but the trial was not over yet. Each day another challenge was put between them and the Rurzun Mountains. Dangerous creatures, a drought, a plague, a treacherous river. Each night the Rurzani buried their dead. On the eighth day the worst tragedy yet befell them, when Darkness came. The Rurzani only survived due to their leader's sacrifice. She led the Darkness away, and her people found their way home, but she lost her life, and no grave was dug.
When her spirit rose from the ground, she saw the mountains far in the distance. Day and night she travelled. When she reached the foot of the mountains, she immediately noticed something was wrong. The plants that grew there were not the ones that grew near her home, and the creatures that roamed there were different too. She continued her journey around the mountain, and around, and around again. And for eternity her spirit would walk around the mountain, looking for her people so she could reincarnate within them, but she would never find them, for these were not the Rurzun Mountains.
To this day, the Rurzani bury their dead facing Mount Mavvon, the highest peak of the mountain chain, so that when their spirit rises from their grave, they see their home and know which way to go.
Leading them was a woman so good at tracking she could find a deer with a three day disadvantage in rainy weather. Everybody trusted her to find them their way home, but the trial was not over yet. Each day another challenge was put between them and the Rurzun Mountains. Dangerous creatures, a drought, a plague, a treacherous river. Each night the Rurzani buried their dead. On the eighth day the worst tragedy yet befell them, when Darkness came. The Rurzani only survived due to their leader's sacrifice. She led the Darkness away, and her people found their way home, but she lost her life, and no grave was dug.
When her spirit rose from the ground, she saw the mountains far in the distance. Day and night she travelled. When she reached the foot of the mountains, she immediately noticed something was wrong. The plants that grew there were not the ones that grew near her home, and the creatures that roamed there were different too. She continued her journey around the mountain, and around, and around again. And for eternity her spirit would walk around the mountain, looking for her people so she could reincarnate within them, but she would never find them, for these were not the Rurzun Mountains.
To this day, the Rurzani bury their dead facing Mount Mavvon, the highest peak of the mountain chain, so that when their spirit rises from their grave, they see their home and know which way to go.
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