Funerary rites

The people of Morgaea hold a multitude of different opinions on the matter of death and **funerary rites**. Nevertheless, in most cultures, proper rites involve disposing of the corpses in order to prevent them from becoming hosts to demons. It's also widely believed that souls of the dead pass through the Veil and enter the Dreaming before reaching the afterlife.

## Viewpoints

### Cleve

Rather than cremating their dead as Sibyllans do, the Cleve dismember the bodies, and offer them to Thora of the Skies through her messengers, the birds, in what Nordish scholars refer to as an "air burial" (also known as "sky burial"). For most, the body is laid out, usually at the top of a mountain, and prayers are given. When the birds come, they carry the soul to the domain of Thora of the Skies, Twilight, where they will be reunited with their kin. Sky Watchers, who serve as priests to Thora, use ritual weapons to dismember the dead bodies, and break up the bones into fragments before presenting them as offerings to the goddess. However, scourged bodies are not retrieved by Thora's messengers, and can therefore find no peace in the afterlife.

### Welserine

The Welserine Wilds are no place to bury the dead, amd the swamps are too dense to perform air burials. As such, the Welserine have no tombs, and have had to find other ways to dispose of their dead. This rite includes cremation, to return the body to the dust of the Mountain-Father. Then, the Welserine carry the urns of ashes to a temple on the edge of the Wilds where their goddess, Kolaarn, carries their souls to Twilight. This is completely opposed to the Cleve sky burial, and is seen as heresy by the mountain clans.

Wilders also believe that, unique to them and born of their myths of their mother-goddess Aumuni, some souls are chosen to return; a blessing considered a rare honor. Wilders born with the gift of shapeshifting are believed have been reborn and given a new human form.

### The Ministry

The funeral rites in the Ministry involve cremation, commemorating Sibylla's death on a pyre. The Ministry teaches that souls of the virtuous ascend to the side of the Watcher, while the souls of the sinners are doomed to endlessly wander the Dreaming in search of the Watcher's grace. When Sibylla burned on her pyre, she was cleansed of her sins, thus a flame became a symbol of purity in the Ministry.

Mourners light candles inside a temple to commemorate their dead loved ones. This act is often accompanied by reading a verse from the Chronicle of Erudition that's also known as the Words for the Departed.

#### Anderlay

Anderan funerary traditions differ from the rest of the Ministry. Unlike most other Sibyllans, Anderans do not burn their dead, instead carefully preserving the bodies, and sealing them in elaborate tombs. Some of the wealthiest Anderans start building their own tombs while still young, spending decades overseeing their construction. These become incredible palaces, with gardens, bathhouses, and ballrooms, kept only for the dead. These crypts are often decorated with their most prized possessions, and each crypt is as unique as the family buried there. The tradition of preserving corpses stems from the belief that when a dead soul enters the Dreaming, it displaces a spirit across the Veil. In order to provide safe hosts for such spirits, Anderans mummify their dead, and place them in elaborate crypts in the Grand Necropolis. This task is entrusted to a secretive order of mages known as the Mortis Conclave, founded by the Adamantine mage Vitus Fanabria, who first preached the idea of soul displacement.

### The Sylvan

The Sylvan have a tradition of burying their dead in the ground, and planting a tree over the remains. They believe that once elves lost their immortality, the god Morthil would guide them into the Beyond after death. However, at some point the evil trickster Fenegoth locked away the elven gods, including Morthil, which meant those who passed away no longer had anyone to guide their souls into the Beyond. Therefore, the Sylvan began burying two items alongside their dead: an oaken staff, to help them travel paths of the Beyond, and a cedar branch, to scatter the ravens who once served Shandalar, named Fear and Deceit.

One of the elven legends says that an elote will lead an elf into the afterlife.

Corealdas are trees planted in remembrance of those who dedicated their lives to the Sylvandale kingdom.

Dor'gyrth is sacred burial site of the Sylvan, located in the Emerald Plains.

Elamera was a slumber-like state that elder elves entered when they became weary of life. It wasn't the same as death, though sometimes, the elves would not wake up from this slumber. There are several poems about elamera, which are nowadays used in the context of mourning.

### Dwarves of Ondrathum

The dwarves believe that they are the children of the Stone-Mother. As such, they're meant to return to Her after death. This is done by burying the dead inside stone tombs. Nobles and Exemplars are entombed in elaborate crypts, while commoners are encased within simple stone cairns. If even that option is beyond the dwarf's means, they are buried in the dirt.

The souls of worthy dwarves are put to rest in the Stone-Mother after the words of a ritual are said. In death their spirits become part of the Progenitors, who guide and care for their descendants for eternity as well as make the Stone-Mother stronger. The unworthy such as the casteless or surface dwarves are said to be outright rejected by the Stone-Mother so that their failings may not weaken her. The souls that are rejected by the Stone-Mother are believed to be unable to rest, and after their death they become rock wraiths or other restless and often malevolent spirits wandering remote caverns.

#### Legion of the Dead

Members of the Legion of the Dead are seen as already dead once they join the order. Before leaving Ondrathum for good, they undergo a symbolic "funeral" where last goodbyes are spoken to friends and relatives, and all ties to their former lives are cut. It begins with chanting and toasts, then the dwarves bid farewell to their friends and loved ones. This funeral clears the dwarf's name, and restores their family's lost honor. They are recorded as dead in the Memories, viewed as having found a glorious and redemptive death in battling the dwarves' eternal nemesis, the fiends. The Legionnaire must then work to make this a fact through a courageous and honorable death.

When a Legionnaire dies, there is a second funeral to return them to the Stone-Mother. If it is possible to do so, the remaining Legionnaires bury their fallen brethren. The bodies of the dead are placed in sarcophagi, which are sealed within graves in order to protect them from being defiled by fiends.

### Orcimar

The Orcimar call the Dreaming "the Land of the Dead". Entering this realm while still alive is forbidden by the Orc, and the Orcimar claim they do not dream like others do. It appears that the Orcimar believe their soul is not tied to their body, but rather to the item required for fulfilling their assigned role. For example, to an Orcimar warrior, their sword is their soul. In an event that a Orcimar warrior dies, other members of the Tuurm strive to retrieve the warrior's blade. The fate of the body itself seems unimportant.