The Draconic Dakhma

We climb the tower, all our faces dour
for the greatest lord protector's soul has soared.
As we carry him, we remember his vim,
and I cry over knowing he'll not know her,
but I will defend her from those daevasend.
When at the hollow top where nothing can grow
we lay him abed with vultures overhead,
yet the auran asks me, "what role takes these tasks?"
"A guardian as my brother before has
chosen and which we needs must have each lord be."
"Then eat of his scales. Bring Azhdar's wrath of hells."
The bird carves bone from flesh and says, "Leave no crumb,
for should you fail, dark swamps will snuff every spark."
The others fall into rage: "Lord's harm a sin."
To the entourage, the priest seems to assuage,
"None can interrupt, or land will flesh corrupt."
The bird I do trust, so I do as I must.
It is toxic food, but it is of my brood,
and I know this was what he wanted because
he told me himself, when we ate that Scorc elf,
"Bra'um, you are kin. You will rule, hear night's din.
Should this pass by death, prepare me with your breath."
He laughed and as did I, but he never kid.
They say you denounce gluttony, but pronounce
me lord protector while I eat his nectar
is the tradition, so with no contrition
the priest does his rights, and I am lord of nights.
The others each their choice make, and from him tear,
gaining the lord's flaws and his greatness in laws.
When they all have been, in swoop the carrion.
We leave our brother, our lord, or our lover,
and we stop babe's fuss, "He is always with us."
Praise to Azhdar, praise to reason and light's rays.
May Ra'du find rest and Esh'ray'en the best.
The tower is not silence as it is thought.
The dead cannot speak, but life is not so meek.

Holy Bodies, Corrupted Land

The people of Iejurthi have stood against demonic expansion in the West of Ist'Fek for generations. The fortress-city itself is within the swamps of the Mulrich hordes, and as such, the land around them is seen as a corrupted place that will harm the soul of the dead. The Dakhma was built to grant a place to ensure that important figures remain uncorrupted by the forces of darkness that surround them.