Death in Toivoa

There are many varieties of ways to deal with the dead in Toivoa that Moritas has experienced and studied during his 300 odd years. The following are his finding on the topic after research. This is also listed in Moritas and Moritas’s Funeral Home and After Life Services under Services.

## Dealing with the Dead

### Standard Underground Burial

1. Very Common
2. Practiced by most cultures and races
3. Usually done on the outskirts of the city in cemetery
4. Poor and unwanted sometimes buried in mass graves
5. Some graveyards exist for certain deities
6. Used by most humans in Toivoa

### Cremation

1. Very Common
2. Practiced by most cultures and races
3. Can be done in oven, pyre, or by magic
4. Inexpensive and safe when it comes to undead
5. Ashes can be stored in a vessel if wanted
6. Humans, elves, dragonborn, and Aasimar use this type often

### Encasement

1. Common
2. A body is placed within a barrow/tomb/mausoleum/pyramid.
3. Can be done as a group, family, or solo
4. Usually costs a bit of money
5. Due to longevity and family styles, Dwarves and Gnomes commonly use this style

### Mummification

1. Uncommon
2. Some older races still use these practices
3. Usually used by the rich and powerful
4. Process is long and involved
5. Done through a process of cleaning, removing and storing of important organs, preserving the body with myrrh and salt and oil, encased in resin, and finally wrapped in linens.
6. Used by some humans in certain cultures and by Yuan-Ti and Tieflings

### Alkaline Hydrolysis

1. Uncommon
2. Uses water and lye to dissolve body into a white powder
3. Used when fire is not an option
4. Often used by Triton, Lizardfold, some Genasi, and possibly by some Tortle and other aquatic races.

### Promession

1. Uncommon
2. Process of freezing the body, shattering it into dust, then sewing the remains into the soil
3. Magic is almost always involved unless practiced in the farthest and coldest region of Toivoa
4. Very sought after ritual for druids and fey folk
5. Elves love the idea of this, but usually fail to follow through

### Water Burial

1. Uncommon
2. 2 Types
	* Kelpy Burial
	* Abyssal Burial
3. Kelpy burial is done in shallower waters.  The deceased is tied among the kelp forests to be stripped by the local animals and marine life
4. Abyssal burials are done in much deeper waters.  The body is weighted and sunk at the deepest part of the ocean to be given to whatever lurks in the deep.
5. Very niche if you don’t live within water
6. Seen almost exclusively by aquatic species

### Halfling Funeral

1. Uncommon
2. A ship/boat is used to carry the body of the deceased out to sea where it is then burned and sunk
3. Many possessions of the recently deceased are also put into the boat
4. There are old tales that say the spouse of the deceased is supposed to join their beloved on the boat, but that is not practiced any more
5. Done almost only exclusively by halflings

### Burial Trees

1. Very Uncommon
2. A body is interred within a large and old tree.  A cavity is built within the tree and the body is laid inside to become one with it.  Sometimes fungi is used to help the body integrate with the tree.
3. Tree are usually well protected afterwards
4. Common for elves and some fey folk

### Plastination or Taxidermy

1. Very Uncommon
2. A body is stuffed for taxidermy or transmuted to a non-rotting material for plastination.
3. Most often used for scientific study or very specific cultures
4. Used by Gnome scholars and by Aarakocra that practice the ritual of celebrating the deceased.

### Sky Burial

1. Very Uncommon
2. A body is given to the lords of the sky.  Large flying beasts like Rocs and the occasional young dragon, take the corpse from a ritual stone.
3. Practiced mostly by the secluded Goliath and other barbarians of the open steppe

### Bog Burials

1. Very Uncommon
2. The recently deceased is placed within a bog or swamp to be mummified naturally
3. Practiced by Goblin, Orc, and some small groups of Centaurs

### Specific Religious Practices

1. Common to Rumored
2. Many varied ways that the temples deal with the after life services
3. Temples are very reticent to share what they actually do and only want to give that information if you are a “member” of that church.  Or more specifically if you give a tithing of an undisclosed amount.  Like they know a better way to do it then every other culture that has been around for centuries.  Really, how many other ways can there be to deal with a sack of meat and bones?  And why so secretive about it?  Just share the information so we can all benefit and the populace can live their best lives without worrying about what's happening next.  Which I can almost guarantee that nobody actually knows, not even the gods.  Even they die.  And what happens after that??? No answer huh?  Didn’t think so!
4. Example of one such ritual is the process of using porcelain masks to cover the faces of the dead in the Cult of Ikmael

### Cannibalism

1. ~~Rumored.~~ Observed.
2. The practice of consuming the dead
3. Often said to be the ritual of the goblinoid or tiefling
4. Sometimes it is used to “consume” the power of the recently departed

### Binders End

1. Very Uncommon
2. The practice of removing and using parts of a deceased body to create a book. The skin is used for the pages and cover. Bones are ground into a power to be used for ink. And fats are rendered down for glues.
3. Often a final burial option for major scholars and wizards.

### Undead

1. Uncommon to rumored
2. Turning oneself or others into an undead servant through necromantic magic
3. Looked down on by most races due to prejudices
4. Normally only used on willing subjects, villains, or criminals that still need to repent for crimes committed during life.  It can also be used to pay for debts created during life
5. Often used by the most evil of races, but the act itself is not.

### Lichdom

1. Extremely uncommon
2. Using a very potent necromantic magic, a phylactery, a potion of transformation, and an ascension ritual to basically become an immortal undead mage.
3. Practiced by all races that possess the powers and education needed.

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