Death and afterward in Ménicéa

Written by Happy, help provided by MythicRevenant on the last quote, thanks!

We are here today to say farewell to my father.
Even if pain and sorrow may fill our hearts and moisten our eyes,
We have to remember how much he cared for and thrived to live a long and happy life.
This isn't the day where we mourn and cry about someone we won't ever see again.
This is the day where we celebrate and remember about someone who has now returned to Nélandra after walking alongside with us for years.

— Example of an introduction to a funeral prayer

Death in Menicea is very important. It's the final step in someone's life, a moment where relatives will celebrate, talk about how fulfilling was this person's life. People get to think about how they can take the example of the lost to improve the time they have left.

History

As long as they remember, Gérouns always buried their dead. It's their way to give back to Ménicéa the benefits she provides to our lives. It was Nelandra, who renewed the rituals along with the rest of the values she taught. This was a part of her long speech about the importance of life and how it should be approached and celebrated.
In small towns or hamlets, cemeteries were built behind altars. During the Clan War, they were buried where people wanted, which couldn't be allowed anymore. For bigger towns, graveyards are found out of the city, around a big altar of Nélandra.
People also started to celebrate the "Telling the gone," a ceremony held once a year where people wrote about what they did and achieved through the past year. They leave it, with a bunch of flowers or other offerings on the deads grave for them to read, be at ease, and know that the ones they left behind are doing well.

Execution

Funerals

Funerals begin by a walk, they put the body of the dead person in a place that he or she liked, on a decorated and opened coffin. It may be a house or a specific location in nature. Relatives then pick up the coffin and carry it to the cemetery.
There, a Colombe is waiting and will recite a prayer for the dead, that begins with a speech from the relatives. After the prayers are done, the coffin is closed and buried.
The ceremony then moves to another place where a feast and a party are held to celebrate the happy life of someone ending.

Telling the gone

This gathering is held once a year, during autumn. Each region has its own date to do it. People that lost someone regroup around the cemetery and have a small festival where people sing and dance, after what they write letters to the people who left them. They tell them what they've been doing, what they went through and how they thrive today to be happy.
This is a warm and convivial moment, where Colombes and other civilians help each other to write. Illiterate people get assistance from everyone so they can also tell their loved ones what they were up to until now.
Gérouns use a special ink for this event, one that easily dissolves with water. They believe that once the words are gone, the dead are done with reading and said: "Thank you."

Dear Raziel,

I never stop thinking about this fight we had about whether those two neighbors were together or not. Looks like I won.

Honestly, things have been rough, this year. We had a storm that hit the crops really bad. I might have to hunt as well, but it will be fine.

I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you about this but, I followed your advice and decided to talk to Vesnia. We went for a walk around the coast near Welden, and we held hands all the way along. I think we're a thing now, but I'm not sure.

Anyway, I've been doing well recently. I wished you were here. I miss you. I love you.

Your brother,
Luis.

To my favorite bastard,

Guess who won the last Tournament ? Yep. That's what happens when you're not here to steal the glory and the girls. I've been training hard, you know? Had to beat that damn Irvine, he kept saying that he would be the next champion and I didn't like it.

I talked a bit with my mom, and Chella, about what you told me. I feel like a terrible idiot, how could I not understand that earlier. Still, it's a bit weird, you know? Did you want things to be that way for a long time? Like, since we were kids? That's why you got so angry when I spent a night with that girl a few years ago? Fuck, I shouldn't ask myself too many questions about that now. I started to understand what was going on when Chella told me that she thought that we were... you know. Together. Dude, you really should've told me about it. I guess that I'd have given it a chance.

The Colombe said a weird thing earlier. That dead people could watch us from heaven, or I don't know where. I seriously hope that you get the fuck off when I'm bringing someone home. Hell, this is creepy.

Sorry for bringing that subject up again. I hope that you're okay, wherever you are. Things are not the same now that I'm the only one messing around. People say that I've grown calmer. Screw them.

I'll write again next year. You better read.