Burial Vigils

When a Clan cat dies, their body is taken to the center of camp. Several of their Clanmates - usually the cat's friends and family - gather around their body to hold the vigil for the night. If the cat's former/present mentor - or an apprentice if they have one - are still alive they will also join the vigil. This is a way of sharing tongues one last time before some - or all - of these individuals carry the deceased cat to the burial place in the morning. If a Clan is unable to sit vigil for the entire night, they will sit for as long as they can.
In the event of a well-loved and respected Clan member's death, the entire clan is invited - but never required - to join the vigil. And sometimes other clans will join this vigil as well. If a Clan is mourning their fallen Clanmates after a large battle, those most important to the fallen cats - such as mates and children/apprentices - will be the closest to the body for the night.
There can also be vigils for cats whose bodies cannot be found, or cats who have disappeared and are presumed deceased. There are also extreme cases where the bodies of the deceased are too desecrated or mangled to view - but the cats can still sit vigil and mourn their loss in the same manner they would normally.
== Burial practices in each Clan ==
While the vigil itself is largely the same across the clans, how and where the deceased are buried changes. 
=== MarshClan - Lake burials ===
The marshes are not an ideal place for burials, so the cats of MarshClan lay their deceased to rest in the lake. The cats most important to the deceased gather along the shore and each take turns wrapping vines around various parts of the body to ensure they sink. 
=== TreeClan - Tree burials ===
In a tradition dating back to the earliest days of TreeClan, when a cat is buried they are placed beneath a tree near the camp. The greatest warriors and most respected leaders have a sapling placed over their grave. Over time as the tree grows, their family members are placed around the tree to feed it strength. Before covering the grave in dirt, every cat who was close to the deceased place leaves over them.
There persist legends and tales that every tree in the forest sprouted from the graves of ancient TreeClan ancestors.
=== FieldClan - Nomadic burials ===
FieldClan's territory is vast and they have multiple camps across it, each for a different season. Their nomadic traditions date back to even before they considered themselves "FieldClan." For ages their main burial ground was the area around what we now call the Broken Bridge. This area is the most fertile spot in their territory and an excellent place to find vital herbs. But their nomadic tendencies provided an interesting problem: would they really travel across their entire territory with an entire patrol just to bury one cat? A trek that could take most of the entire day? During seasons where weather is more dangerous than predators? 
Even now the Broken Bridge remains the most important burial site for FieldClan - and the place where all leaders and great warriors are buried no matter the season - but twice a year FieldClan find themselves on the complete opposite side of the territory from the Broken Bridge and their two other camps. So twice a year their burials are done along the Whitewater River, in the rich and lush sage fields. Wherever the burials are done, the practice is the same.
Every cat important to the deceased tosses a pawful of dirt over their body to fill in the grave, sometimes after saying a few words to express fondness or memories of their life together. The nest the deceased cat slept in is buried with them.
=== CaveClan - Open-sky burials ===
CaveClan have perhaps the most unique burial practice of all the clans. Their territory is hard earth and rocks. And the more you dig into the earth, the more large rocks you find. As a result, it's impossible to dig a proper grave. CaveClan take their deceased to a place on the territory that held significance to them and leave them where they lie for nature to run its course. They then mark the spot with something important to that cat (eg. when Emberfall and Falconcrest planted sagebrush where Dewcloud was lain to rest).
Before transfer to the burial site, the body is dressed with special herbs and salves before being laid to rest. The living cats who honor them leave important things behind, such as trophies from a hunt they had together.
Category:Information
Category:Clan life