Tiamalan Acesension Rituals

The Tiamalans hold Ascension Rituals twice a year to help speed on their departed friends and loved ones on to their next lives.
Tiamalan kobolds are staunch reincarnationists, a spiritual belief few other mortals in Scarterra hold. They believe their ancestors were dragons who were reincarnated into weaker creatures, kobolds as punishment for their sins, especially their hubris and a lack of piety.
They believe that lives well lived in the sight of the Nine will reincarnate in slightly better lives, which normally means a slightly happier, slightly more powerful kobold. They hope to eventually work their way up to becoming dragons again.

Execution

Tiamalans are not strict on orthopraxy with strict ritual requirements. A lot of rituals for Ascension festvals are informal or even improvisational free form.
Nearly universal observances are telling stories of the deceased, singing songs to the deceased and the Nine.
If times are good, a feast is held a portion of the food is ritually bestowed to the deceased. If times are lean, the ascension rituals usually involve a ritual fast for solidarity with the spirits of deceased who are not eating.
Normally, kobolds believe that reincarnation occurs within a year of death, two or three years under worst case scenarios, but this doesn't stop storytelling and remembrances for kobolds who died long ago at the Ascension festivals.
They also retell the story of how their ancestors were cursed into a lesser form and how they are going to reclaim their spiritual position with acts of piety and resilience.

Components and tools

Tiamalans will burn or otherwise destroy ceremonial tokens to help tether the spirits of the recently deceased from their ties to the mortal plane.
Tiamalans are not especially materialistic but they don't like to waste useful tools and supplies, so most destroyed tokens are jewelry worn by the deceased or simple wood carvings with the deceased kobolds' names on them.
When dealing with tools, weapons, and other useful items that belonged to the recently deceased, their kin will formally thank the spirit of the previous owner for the transition of ownership.
Kobold communication is olfactery as much as it is verbal, much of their subtext in communication is with pheremones not words. If available, during the Ascension Rituals, they will burn fragrant materials at various interval, both sweet smelling and foul smelling substances via metaphors and symbolism that only kobolds would fully understand.

Participants

Pretty much every Tiamalan kobold in the tribe participates in the rituals. If present, the ceremonies are led by favored souls or sorcerers/sorcresses, but any adult kobold is qualified to lead the ceremonies in a pinch. Kobolds separated from their clans will still make simple observances on this day by themselves.

Observance

The first ascension ritual is held on the midpoint between Winter and Spring most humans call Beltaine which roughly corresponds with when kobolds start mating rituals.
The second ascension ritual is held on the midpoint between Autumn and Winter most humans call Samhain which roughly corresponds with when kobolds start their birthing treks.

Primary Related Location

Scarterra

Related Ethnicities

• Tiamalan kobolds