Funerary Rites in the Moran Duchy

How societies react to death tells us much about them. As with so much else about the Moran Duchy, history drives some differences betweenthe regions but as these have all stemmed from the common culture of the society that migrated from Marivar following the collapse of the Marivan Empire there are some common features. Here we shall look at these common features and then some of the regional variations.

Common Features

The funerary rites of all the Mor share three points in common:

• The formal exit of the deceased from their household and other member groups

• The disposal of the body

• The memorialisation of the departed

Formal exit from household and other groups

A major concern for any group that holds to a Household God is that the god will desert the household to go looking for one who has gone missing. This applies to the dead as much as to those who move away and is the origin of the Rite of Passing. It is therefore seen as important that this rite is performed by each of the groups to which the deceased belonged as soon as is reasonably possible. For preference, the rite is performed with the body of the deceased present and where the person belongs to more than one group, their body will be carried in procession between the shrines of the relevant gods for this. Where that is not possible, by reason of distance, or destruction of the body at the time of death (for example in a house fire) the messenger who brings the news will normally take part in the rite. A common variation on this, where the news comes by written message is that the message plays a part in the rite.

Disposal of the Body

Once the Rite of Passing has been conducted the body is disposed of. Unlike many groups, the Mor do not believe in resurrection or an afterlife but they do hold that the body must be taken care of and that if it is subsequently disturbed by someone then the disturber will be targetted by the spirit of the departed who, wishing only for peace and oblivion takes offence at the disturbance of their remains. Thus, by whatever means the body is disposed of care is taken to ensure that the remains are not disturbed by human agency after they have been laid to rest. This is the major reason why the area south of the river at Morton has never been developed as the town grew - for it had been used as a graveyard in the first centuries of the town's existance.

Memorialisation of the departed

Once the bodily remains have been laid to rest then the household (or other group) will memorialise the departed. The nature and extent of this depends on the status and degree of respect that the departed held both in the household/group and in wider society. Places or landmarks may be named for them; memorial stones or plaques be set up in the home, workplace, places they were known to like and so on. Many of these remain in place for many years after the death and are a complication wherever buildings are to be demolished or areas redeveloped.

And those who die unmarked?

Two aspects apply here - the need to ensure that the household god does not go off in search of the departed and the need to ensure that their spirits gain peace and do not disturb the living. It is an important aspect of the society of the Mor that the news of a death is brought to the household. In modern times, with the growth of literacy, most people carry about them written details of the household gods that they are associated with and anyone finding a body is under a social obligation to ensure that the news of the death is conveyed and that the rites of passing are performed. Many arduous journeys have been undertaken and some have even passed into popular culture and legend.
As for ensuring the peaceful rest of the departed this is easy enough in towns and even villages for they will be handled in the local manner - albeit with less ostentation and little memorialisation for often none will know of the departed more than is apparent from the belongings they had with them. Elsewhere it may still be possible to bury or cremate but it becomes harder to ensure that the remains rest undisturbed. The most common solution is to erect a mound or cairn over the remains and to trust that this will be adequate, but caves and other inaccessible spots may also be used.

Regional Variations

The most notable variations are between the coastal and landlocked parts. In the coastal areas, many of the departed will be buried at sea - wrapped in weighted shrouds and dropped into the waters off shore in designated areas where local tradition and the taboo on disturbing the dead put an effective ban on fishing the bottom. Occasionally this will be combined with cremation, either sinking a container of the ashes or by burning a boat as they pyre, though this variation is seldom encountered in the Duchy it is not uncommon in the Kingdom of Mor and may be encountered in those with family connections to that land.
The older lands of the Duchy and the Houghlands tend to prefer burial to cremation. In the Houghlands it is common to lay some of the personal effects in the grave cut halfway between the body and the surface to warn anyone digging that they are at risk of disturbing a body. In the old Duchy tithings the use of designated burial grounds is more common, reducing this risk but a remnant of that tradition is preserved with the use of a layer of sand, gravel or some other contrasting fillat the halfway point.
In the Covrin provinces cremation is dominant, and it is also more common in Harborough and Morsby tithings. In most of these areas the ashes are gathered into jars or other containers and these are then buried in manners similar to the bodies elsewhere in the duchy, but in the deep south, in the lands beyond the River Tavar the ashes are scattered in a practice similar to those seen in several of the Little Kingdoms(org). This is viewed with deep suspicion by many of the other inhabitants of the Duchy, some of whom have beenknown to refuse to cross the Tavar for fear of disturbing the dead. That said, there seem to be no more issues with the disturbed spirits of the dead troubling the living than elsewhere in the Duchy.