Death of a Dragon: Funeral Rites of the Dragonkin

**Death of a Dragon** is a book published by the dragonborn priestess Raiann the 'Undying'. The book details on how to have hold a proper funeral for the dragon-kin, from the small kobolds to the large dragons.

## The book

### Introduction

I remember as a young dragonborn the death of close-kin. A tragic tale, since then I have always wondered where we go when we die. Slowly but surely I dedicated my life to the study of the dying, however I made sure to steer clear of the vile 'art' of necromancy. I never gained an answer to where we go when we die, instead I have found my rest in helping the deceased to give them one final proper event in their lives. The following funeral rites are not invented by me, but instead have been observed in my travels all throughout Drazenia and the many different dragon-kin communities.

#### Chapter 1: Birth of a Dragon

Before one can discuss the death of a dragon, one needs to know where we come from. Many of you know our origins but some seem to have forgotten, which is a great shame. Let me remind all dragon-kin that we were born in the flames of Reyim who created us to protect the world for all that is sacred. We are the strong and shall protect the weak, that is the fire that burns inside us and with that fire we shall die. No matter if it is in battle or as a gray-scale. Now that we remember our origins we can make the next step.

#### Chapter 2: Death of a Dragon

I have observed many funeral rites across Sahul, however not all of them are adequate for the dragon-kin. I have seen the typical burial by the humans, noble but not fit for us. As some may know many of the old conclaves of dragon-kin will cut of a claw and clean out the guts to be fed to the young. However this does not feel right to our great goddesses Reyim. One should not feed the same race with the same race! That is cannibalism, something the orcs would do. We should not eat the flesh but tell the stories of our dead, that is were the true glory and learning experience lies. I have come to the conclusion that since we were born in the fire so we should also die in the fire. Gather your deceased and bring them to a place were you cremate them, dress them in simple clothing, for metals won't turn to ash. Place them and let closekin light the fire, collect the ash and place it in an urn. If you are of wealth gather your fallen and create a special room in your home. If not create a sacred corner were you can honour your ancesters.

## Reception

The book became an instant hit across Drazenia and the many dragon-kin communities. Not long there after many crematoriums were opened across the land. Many families often have a special room in their home were they store the ashes of their kin, often accompanied by a small plague with name and occupation, sometimes (depending on the wealth of the family) there are scroll stored in the same room detailing the life of the dead. In cases when people do not have space in their home the local temples will over space to store the urns. Not every change was widely adopted, it still remained custom to cut of the claw to show it on display hanging above or settled next to the urn. Other communities decided to stop the claw cutting and instead carve the claw on the urn.

A couple years later Raiann published a continuation on her book, now detailing how best to hold a mass funeral for fallen soldiers. She recommends burning them on a large funeral pyre, collecting their ashes together and spreading them out evenly in urns to be send to relatives. While not all of the ashes might be of the relative, it still grants families peace, knowing that they died fighting with their fellow dragon-kin for all that Reyim stands for.

After Raiann died she was burned according to the guidelines in her book. Her memory however lives on, granting her the nickname 'undying'.