Lore:Breton Death Beliefs

Breton Beliefs and Customs
Breton Afterlife
thumb|right|A Breton priest of Arkay
Bretons worship Arkay, one of their Divines, as the paramount god of the dead. His worship, at least as recorded in written history, originated after that of     and Elven Xarxes and it is taught he was once a mortal who ascended to godhood. Scholarly views on the matter explains that Arkay is merely a convenient syncretic god between Orkey and Xarxes, becoming an integral part of the religion of the  s (and the people descending from them) freed by Alessia. Although the Bretons became the most influenced group of the Nedes' descendants by the High Elves, they continued to worship Arkay as the god of the death, instead of Xarxes, god of their   overlords. 

thumb|left|Bad Man's Hallows
Considering themselves one of the most faithful people in Tamriel, devoted to the Divines (both Eight or Nine, depending on the century) the Bretons believe Arkay commands the souls of the deceased to the realm of Aetherius,  where they meet their gods and their ancestors.   The Direnni left their mark upon the Bretons, who maintained the same aristocratic structures of powers those Altmer had built in the previous centuries. As nothing is more important to an Altmer than his or her ancestry, it is easy to understand Breton nobles and kings (thought to be the rightful successors to the Direnni) valued their ancestry to maintain and expand their status in   society. As a result, prestigious ancestors, as well as royal and noble bloodlines, are respected and remembered with high esteem.  

To the Bretons, Arkay is the God of the Cycle of Birth and Death,  who spends eternity making sure that deaths and births stay in proper balance in the physical world. 

Breton Funerary Customs
thumb|right|A Breton graveyard
Traditions dating back to the witch kings and nomadic horsemen mandated cremation of the dead. This was likely influenced by the Altmer of the Direnni Hegemony, an aristocratic state which ruled over   during the  , who also cremated their dead. This tradition remained longer in the north than in the south, where Imperial burial customs frequently usurped traditional Breton practices. 

thumb|left|Breton barrows
By the  , Bretons had abandoned cremation. All of the dead&mdash;from commoners to kings&mdash;were buried underground, returning to the traditions of their other Human cousins. Kings and high nobility are commonly buried in crypts and catacombs, usually built outside of the cities and towns.   Dishonored kings and nobles are segregated from their relatives and entombed in special crypts, only to be forgotten by history and their descendants.  Breton commoners, on the other hand, most usually rest in graveyards, where their bodies are buried within a coffin in familial or individual tombs.  Burial sites are commonly guarded by Arkay's priests, who watch over the rest of the dead. 

thumb|right|A Breton graveyard and crypt
Arkay's priests in High Rock give every Breton his Three Consecrations: Arkay's Grace, which they bestow upon birth, to protect the souls of the innocent until they are old enough to exercise their own volition; Arkay's Blessing, which they bestow upon the dying, to prevent their souls from being used without consent; and Arkay's Law, which they bestow upon the deceased, that their corporeal forms may not be raised to unlawful servitude. 

Most, if not all, Breton bodies are anointed with the Three Consecrations, yet necromancy is still a common practice in High Rock due to the amount of dispensable corpses left to rot on battlefields without any further blessing or burial. 
 
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