Human Burial Rites

The Kith of Gand embrace a deeply sacred set of processes when reconciling faith with the afterlife. Different races may choose to process death differently Orcish Faith is the belief in a wellspring where all souls go to rest, bodies are wrapped in a shroud and buried shallowlt with the seed of a wellspring tree. Trow Goblins typically fall under the worship of Jarmine and will throw ‘ghost frenzies’ where in the dead is the guest of honor at their death party, they are sat in a chair and their love ones will spend the night drinking and dancing in their honor prior to burying them at dawn.

Kith burial rites tend to be the most complex in practice as they vary from faith to faith, in Xegruni faith any offerings left on a shrine by the deceased must be removed, cremation is preferable and commonly the deceased’s bones are left on the shrine in honor of their first- and only life. There is little else governing how the dead can be treated.

Members of the Sect Obscura were less concerned with the end place of an individual’s remains and instead put emphasis on the preparation of the body, but rituals including washing the body and cleaning their clothes.

Among Kith faiths and practices by far the most strict and procedural rites come from the worship of Tarn, the Cosmic Weaver. These practices are identical between both of the major sects, The Church of Tarn and the Brotherhood of Tarn. It’s believed that the mishandling of a corpse can cause the internal soul to become damaged which can trap the soul between the material and spiritual planes, never to find peace.

Foundation of belief

The kith belief is that all thing are made from the act of weaving, everything on the face of the world was woven together by Tarn and is linked by invisible threads to the cosmos- to Tarn’s realm called the shroud. In this sense everyone every living thing has a predetermined destiny which is spelled out in the stars. Humans are mere tools of Tarn’s will and follow along the path of these threads. It’s believed that there are threads that the human soul to tarn and the physical body to the earth. Upon death these threads one slack are pulled taught separating the body and soul. The physical body stays with the earth and the soul is pulled upwards towards the cosmos to rejoin Tarn in the shroud. From this belief comes much anxiety about the souls journey to reach Tarn and many fret that this journey can become perilous. Many philliospophers theorise about what could happen to a soul that does not reach Tarn’s realm. Could these threads break? Could they become entangled in another’s soul? Could a soul become confused or lost like a swimmer submerged in deep water? Where would they go if not the shroud? From this they created a process of treating their dead. With the intention of aiding a souls on its travel to the other realm.

The greatest fear is that soul will be unable to ascend to Tarn’s realm and will become stuck, some theorise that a souls consciousness may remain tethered to the physical body where the mind persists as the form decays. Others fear that a soul will slip in between the realms to become stuck in a wandering purgatory, never able to find peace. As such, most funeral rites revolve around giving the body access to the night sky and creating a barrier of noise. The goal for this is to enrich the senses Sound for the ears, shroud for the touch, incense for the nose, vinegar for the tongue and a smoke for the eyes with he belief that the soul will know which way is up and which way to travel. Not all is required for a successful rite, but the most important is the humming of the funeral note.

Great taboos

Kith burial rites are based in guiding the dead’s soul upwards to the sky to join the shroud. There is a deeply held belief that a soul is anchored to the physical body until the soul can vacate. This leads to concern that people who die underground may not be able to reach the shroud due to not being underneath the sky. Bodies are typically left unburied for at least a day.

The greatest form of disrespect to a dead person however is burning their body. As the soul resides within the body a physical sensation like burning is believed to crowd the senses, in a metaphorical sense fire is capable of burning and destroying the threads that tether the soul to Tarn. Many believe that A burned body results in the soul permanently becoming trapped either in the body itself, or in the in between realm, with no hope to ever join the shroud, left to wander for eternity. Those who deliberately kill by way of fire or burn the deceased are considered monstrous and perverse. It is also one of the lesser known intimidation tactics of the Brotherhood of Tarn Who extort people to confess their sins under the threat of being burnt; those who don’t confess are typically blocked in their homes and set alight and those who do are oftentimes killed by the blades of enthusiastic paladins. They justify this act as carrying out Tarn’s will by keeping the shroud pure of it souls and in the interest of saving as many souls as possible.

Silent Rites

One of the more subtle but still inhumane practices is that of the silent rite. As the name implies the preparation of the dead is done clinically, the body is shrouded in linen wrapping and incense may be burnt but the ritual is entirely done in silence without the funeral note being hummed. This is considered a neutral act the soul is not hindered from moving on- nor is it helped. For further practice the body may be prepared face-down as opposed to up, this extended treatment is reserved for criminals an sorcerers.

There are other ways that the dead’s rites may be incomplete or handled improperly, as a soul is given at least. Day to vacate burying someone before this period may trap their soul, as may never allowing the body outside. Even the smaller acts like not enshrouding body or using incense is considered improper.

The cost of improper rites

Ultimately intentionally doing improper rites is considered shameful by society at large but also potentially dangerous as there are myths regarding what could happen to a stuck soul. It is believed that those who are burned are forever forsaken as a restless spirit. But that who have received no rites at all, including silent rites and improper rites may turn monsterous and seek revenge against the living. Previously this came in form of dozens of folk lore tales but have since largely been condensed under one name Grymm. No one has been able to confirm and document the existence of the Gymm but the fear of them are felt in every kith. Some versions of their mythology describe them as angry creatures that drag themselves along still wrapped in their shroud. Some describe them as a mass of writhing sentient threads that appear at night an wail, and some describe them a floating and jelly-fish like with glowing bones, who cause the living who see it to die within the next moon cycle. The threat of monsters and the cress to more priests and funeral resources have made improper rites more and more rare.

Proper Rites

After death the body is wrapped in a white linen shroud, knotted at the hands and feet with the face left exposed. A minimum of one day is allowed to encourage the soul to leave, the body should be contained in a room with an open window or even better- under the open sky. When night falls the funeral rites for all take place, those close to the dead gather at sunset and circle around the shrouded dead. Oftentimes this service is led by members of the church of Tarn as it is the right of a cleric or higher to perform according to the, Titles within the Worship of Tarn. In smaller communities this is not always possible and may simply be done by members of the community. It’s encourage to have a group of people as stronger groups supposedly make the soul’s transition easier. Charcoal discs are lit and placed inside of an iron censer and fragrant incense is laid on top to smolder. These censers are swung from chains and walked around dispersing the smoke around the room to cleanse it. The dead’s eyes are close if not already done, then their mouth is opened a few drops of black vinegar- distilled from Pearlberry is dropped onto the tongue leaving a dark streak on it’s way. The circle of people then hum the funeral note- a low melodic sound design to encourage the soul away from the mortal coil, the leader- typically the cleric begins the melody and others join in the note swells and reaches a fever pitch of harmony. After a time the cleric ends and the hum ceases, the dead’s soul is then considered gone. Loved ones take a last opportunity to wish the dead goodbye . The body is typically left low over night and buried in the morning typically within a burial mound. Buriel mounds are designated spaces often outside the city bounds and are large tunneled areas often marked with stone gates, to bury a loved one writhing the space of a community burial mound their death must be documented with local government along with details including the deceased’s name, mode of death and intended space for rest. It’s technically illegal for the dead to be buried within many cities such as Centawen, Wintrow and even Rakside As these cities sit along the Elven Network Trade Route and have large carvens below them making the buriel of dead an issue of structural instability. Although people still do.