Death and the Afterlife

Funerary Rites

When someone in Amion dies, what happens varies depending on where they lived, and the beliefs of the individual. The most common method of dealing with the dead across the Kingdom of Avalyra is burial. Large churches typically have crypts beneath them, some of them being huge complexes known as halls of the dead. In Avalyra, these halls are overseen by priests of Vaelyn, the goddess of Death. In smaller settlements, overground graveyards are kept, and the local people are buried there. Some of these have mausoleums for noble or other rich families or groups.
Other communities have differing rites, with some people preferring to cremate their dead (followers of Mirena invariably do this, for example), or send them out to sea (popular in coastal communities like Mistcliff and among followers of Edona). One common alternative, undertaken chiefly by the elves of Irlalion and other devotees of Imir, involves planting trees above each individual that is buried, with the hope that death can bring new life.
In Tocuria, burial and cremation of the dead are equally popular funerary traditions across the Dynasty. Noble families err towards burial, and often have large crypts devoted to their entombed ancestors, while the common folk show no strong preference across the country, with communities favouring one over the other on a local basis.
Orcs of the Northern Reaches are as varied as the tribes they form, and their approach to the dead is just as differing. However, the vast majority of the tribes burn their dead, particularly any chieftains that pass away. Due to their usual wandering nature, burial is rare among orcs. The exception to this is the Ebon Maw clan. Their permanent settlement has led them to favour the burial of their dead in an established graveyard, overseen by a shaman of Krothys.  

Avalyran Afterlife

Souls of Avalyran people that pass on, no matter the god they worship, find themselves in a featureless white sand desert, surrounded by inky void. After some time wandering, they invariably find their way to a bridge, extending out into the void. Guarding it is the goddess Vaelyn, who guides them to cross the Bridge, leading them to an afterlife corresponding to the god they most closely followed. Where an individual worships multiple gods, Vaelyn has the power to guide them into the most appropriate, though she hears out any pleas from the soul. In rare cases, she elects to send a soul to a god they didn't worship, as their actions in life aligned towards them, rather than any they professed to worship.
Vaelyn guides the souls into an afterlife, or plane, overseen by one of The Gods of Avalyra. Each of them hold sway over a limitless region that embodies what they value and hold dear. The dead souls are free to wander these planes as they wish, though some gods expect certain services from the souls in their afterlife.  

Tocurian Afterlife

In Tocuria, the Congregation of Ishtar, and the majority of less religious folk, believe that when someone dies, their soul waits in the ethereal plane for anything from a day to a few weeks. They leave by entering the world anew as a newborn creature or humanoid. Any memory of their past life is lost as they are reborn, but there are some scholars who believe it possible to tap into the memories of these past lives. This has lead to resurrection magic, beyond the first 24 hours of an individual's death, to be outlawed, as they believe this would tear the soul from whatever new creature the spirit had entered, leaving a soulless husk.  

Orcish Afterlife

Orcs of the Northern Reaches, and some of those who have travelled south into the other kingdoms, are typically devotees of Begtar and Sokdos. They hold that these two ancestors of the orcish race hold sway over the afterlife, and that every soul who passes from the physical world joins an everlasting battle for honour between these two gods and their armies of fallen spirits. However, this battle is not antagonistic, and does not always take the form of combat, instead being a gamut of competitions, ranging from martial fighting, to battles of wit, to drinking competitions.
Some orcs, those that hold Krothys as a villain, believe that these battles and contests are to keep the gods and fallen souls ready for an invasion by the third god. They maintain that Krothys will, some day, invade the afterlife of Begtar and Sokdos, with their own army composed of the souls of 'lesser races', and orcs must be ready to defend their afterlife.