S. P. E. C. T. R. E. and S. H. A. D. O. W. Conference (storyline)/Lecture Notes - Ancient Burial Rites
Lecture
Good day. I am Ermias Dunholme. I am know to many as an archaeologist. In truth, I am simply an explorer who documents and explores tradition. I appreciate the invitation today to join you to speak on ancient burial rites.
In spite of the difficulties ongoing at this conference, and what has apparently happened to one member of the staff, I am committed to continuing on with this discussion.
I have been invited here because I am considered an expert in funerary traditions. And I would not miss an opportunity to discuss such topics in a setting such as this, with both the living and the dead. Because every artifact, every tomb? They have stories to tell.
Indeed, it is an absolute pleasure to be in attendance. After today's lecture, I look forward to exploring this... place.
Today, I will offer insight into cultural customs, but more importantly I wish to open a door for you to consider all that surrounds us and which often goes overlooked. Indeed, I know many of us seek such a goal this weekend.
Because a door is an apt metaphor. Death, as is poetically noted, is life's preeminent door. Without exception, it is one all creatures must pass through. Whether or not it returns from this passage, however, is a different... topic of study.
While others in attendance here would agree that both sides of this balance fascinate, or insist on spending countless hours researching how to hold this door open to ensure passage in either direction, today I will offer instead a moment of reflection: what can we learn about life, time, and ourselves in observing the nature of this passage.
Before we truly begin, a small note: as part of my presentation, I will be employing a most curious technology. One that allows me to recreate events I have witnessed with my own eyes. Behold.
My research has taken me across Elanthia, from lonely, foggy vales outside of Wehnimer's Landing to the very heart of fire within Kharam Dzu. On this device, I have recorded images that I hope will both fascinate and instruct.
Do not be fearful or confused. The images and scenes you will witness are merely an ILLUSION. Some are of locales I have studied; I invite you to PEER or GAZE at these. Others represent objects or scenarios I believe will be instructive for us to consider. Please LOOK at those to best consider them.
Also, I periodically must infuse essence into this device. That takes a visible, physical toll on me. Do not be alarmed. I am an expert in this device's use and know how to employ it safely.
Now, without further delay, I invite you to ponder death itself. And, given our short time today, to consider how you might approach the study of death and its rites if you wish to learn more in the future. Or, in the case of our surroundings, the immediate present.
Death, the final passage of one's spirit, and the associated customs are outwardly a conundrum, simultaneously the most public event of our lives and an intimately private affair that we inexorably cannot ever truly share with another.
Illusion #1 - Lady Gosaena
Behold, Lady Gosaena. From the gregarious commoner in Wehnimer's Landing to the taciturn, lone elf in Ta'Vaalor and so many cultures, races, and customs in-between, she is the end. We all face her on our own time, and all cultures and customs have her as a backdrop to everything that has and will happen when it comes to death.
That is not anything novel. But some would consider Gosaena an ultimate truth, underlying anything else we may yet consider or discuss.
I consider it a useful grounding point, as no matter where one goes in their research of funerary rites and customs, she walks alongside and merits attention.
I also caution one to not stare too long into her serene visage. Although a constant companion in the research of final death, some find her eyes intoxicatingly impossible to avoid in life once you begin to gaze. And, thereafter, you're stuck. Aren't you? Well, anyway.
Illusion #2 - Lady Gosaena in the Grey Hall
Friends, GAZE upon this illusion with me.
This is the Grey Hall, in the Elven Nations, a land of greenery. There, our serene Lady always watches. Similarly...
Illusion #3 - Lady Gosaena in Kharam Dzu
Whereas, under the mountain, alongside rivers of literal fire in mineral heat that clouds the mind and overwhelms senses, we similarly see our serene Lady.
Death is death, dispassionate to conditions because the call is the same: to receive us as we walk through an inevitable door.
Please, take a moment to GAZE upon these two contrasting locations and then we will proceed.
Illusion #4 - A Ruined Potter's Field
So what we are left with is what we always have had: each other. The customs shared between strangers and friends, between lovers and those with enmity. Between like citizens and those living nations apart, and even between contemporaries and those who will never meet because they live at different times.
As you GAZE upon this landscape, I wish to set a baseline. A simple marker, uprooted by time and life itself. While death customs are universal, there is often little outward to distinguish one passing from another.
Illusion #5 - A cracked stone marker in a Ruined Potter's Field
After a time, little outwardly remains to tell the tale. A simple marker, unremarkable stone for an unremarkable life. It is possible that this person was indeed missed, beloved by some enough to remark upon it in permanence. Although, in fairness, funerary niceties and speaking respectfully of the dead are some of the oldest rites that one may observe.
Consider these two illusions in tandem for a moment, and then we shall proceed.
Illusion #6 - A Wehnimer's Landing crypt
From one grave outside Wehnimer's Landing to another, I merely seek for you to use our short time to consider how you might approach your future interactions with the dead. GAZE with me, friends.
Money is everything. Between the ruined pauper and the deceased noble, we are more often than not left with clues that glorify (or potentially vilify) those with the means to record their expired history. Such as this crypt.
Study them. Learn from them. Tell the stories. But do not assume that the answers you glean are the immutable truth. Death, for how straightforward it may feel at times, is nothing if not an ever-blossoming mystery.
Illusion #7 - A coffin-lined Landing crypt
As you GAZE at this new illusion of a crypt near Wehnimer's Landing, know also that often this research is perilous. Indeed, sometimes the dead just won't stay dead, as other attendees at this conference will gleefully point out.
Across human towns, cities, and greater empire, rituals surrounding death, funerals, and burial abound.
Illusion #8 - A linen-wrapped corpse
Indeed, as we LOOK at this latest illusion, we have an example of how generally accepted ideas of human funerals are firmly entrenched with the average populace - rites by clergy of the chosen Arkati, burial in a coffin, and mourning by friends and family, but beyond those pedestrian approaches to perishing lie numerous superstitions that often turn into unique rituals, that can vary town to town or even generation to generation.
For those of you who wish to discuss deeper specifics of human rituals, or of any rituals we go over, please feel free to pull me aside throughout the weekend. I would gladly share my research and... speculation.
Some cultures and races are easier to study than others. The dwarves, for example, are experts at many things, death included. \
Illusion #9 - A dwarf mausoleum
As you GAZE at this beautiful illusion, captured from a mausoleum near the otherwise-ruined Fhorian Village outside Kharam Dzu, tradition is everywhere. Dwarves are known to culturally entomb their dead atop stone, and this is no exception. Note the pristine black marble, resistant to the passage of time. Note the orderly rows. These pedestals reinforce a story of a society that embraces the togetherness of tradition, in both life and death.
However, we must also consider the dwarves of the Borthuum Company. These dwarves have a ceremonial practice that not only binds them to each other, but to the very fires that run through the heart of their mountain.
Illusion #10 - A Borthuum Clan funerary pyre
Behold. LOOK at this illusion we have here, at a fascinating and profound ceremony. I have been privileged enough to witness ceremonies like this. They are solemn, but with an inexhaustible joy that underlies all.
The dwarves of the Borthuum Clan honor their legacy and their home with their customs. Funerary pyres, lit by the very fire that runs through the heart of Kharam Dzu, reunite the physical remains of their loved ones. To witness this in person, to be one with the ash and heat and their reunification, is a powerful, almost overwhelming feeling for an outsider.
... not to speak of what happens to those Borthuum dwarves who dishonor their clan.
Illusion #11 - A desiccated dwarf corpse
Sometimes, the corpse itself is all the evidence that is either necessary, or all that endures, even if only for a time. LOOK at what remains.
I will let that sentiment linger for a moment, alongside these images. Though grisly, they are absolutely essential to consider.
Illusion #12 - An Icemule crypt
Illusion #13 - A sturdy halfling warrior sculpture
Halfings are rich with tradition, but here we have something that indeed transcends local custom. GAZE upon the illusion of the mausoleum, and then LOOK at that of the warrior.
Note the sculpted regalia. The extensive ornamentation. The quality that, in spite of the passage of time, endures. A beautiful vessel. Beautiful.
Not that this doesn't say something about halfings specifically, but imagery like this? It endures, it transcends, and it merits study.
If you are ever near Icemule Trace, I urge you to visit this monument in person. The chills you may feel now? They are nothing compared to the real thing. But I digress.
Battle, specifically generational struggle, is a common theme in death ritual and imagery.
While the aelotoi are new to Elanthia, their funerary rites offer a poignant reflection into the struggles they have endured. And, as they say. New flesh often proves the most illuminating.
I apologize in advance to those aelotoi in attendance. This may prove difficult.
Illusion #14 - An aelotoi struggle
Witness this struggle. LOOK at the beauty of this illusion before you. Then consider the following.
Illusion #15 - An aelotoi flower ceremony, the pala'tara
Among the rituals the aelotoi carry forward, we have here the pala'tara, otherwise known as the ceremony of remembrance. Shaped by kiramon oppression against their people, here we witness a modern adaptation of a lingering tradition: where clan elders, having hidden away petals for safety, gather them in a fleeting moment and cast them into a cooking fire.
Living aelotoi now allow outsiders to participate in this beautiful ceremony. I was honored to join them recently. For a bookworm and tomb rat like myself, who spends his life considering the dead in cold, lone halls, it was a humbling honor to share a moment with the living.
I will not hold it against anyone who is moved to tears by such poignant imagery. Please, take a moment if you need.
Illusion #16 - A Ta'Vaalor Cemetery Glade
We now approach the end of my presentation. As such, I wish to leave you with a few parting images to consider as you move forward from today.
The study of death is nothing if not a confluence of contradiction. Like the obelisk seen here as you GAZE upon Glaise Gnoc, outside of Ta'Vaalor, we each face it alone. And alone we are remembered above all else.
Illusion #17 - An elvish obelisk
Consider this obelisk, and note its admonition as you LOOK upon it. Pause stranger, it says, when you pass me by. As you are, so once was I. And as I am now, so will you be.
The study of death and its trappings and rituals is both universal and utterly singular. In it, we not only learn about what once was, but what might yet be.
There are numerous, winding paths of study. Innumerable permutations and caveats, cultural notes and customs specific to smaller towns and clans. Truth is rarely immutable. Neither is death itself.
And, in examining all of this, we unlock a world of deep possibilities to occupy a lifetime of beautiful contemplation and utility.
This concludes my presentation. Thank you for your time, and the opportunity to join you here today. I will be available throughout the weekend to discuss any aspect of this in further detail for those of you who are interested, or to swap stories.