Quinetzin Death Feast

"One of the more remarkable reliefs found within Cipalimetzin was a mural on the side of the temple detailing the Quinetzin Death Feast. Ritual sacrifice is not entirely unseen among past cultures, but I've never seen it so venerated as I did here amongst their people. I've seen Ohrlen and Ehrlen alike sacrifice enemies and traitors to their gods in exchange for favor, but not with such respect. What changed here to trigger such a tragic loss of culture?" Jean Montagne, Explorer

In the glory days of Cipalimetzin, the Quinetzin people chose priests to lead them through their religious lifestyles. There was no individual head priest as their group was treated as equals among one another. Little is known about their daily lives outside of regular rituals towards Cipali, the god-like figure of their city. Offerings of food and prayer were commonplace amongst their people. Morning, evening, and every meal was accompanied by a prayer to Cipali. The priests of the city led their subjects in communal prayer ceremonies during each of these periods. The Hidefolk are not particularly long-lived and the Quinetzin are no different, often living just as long as a Human would if they do manage to reach old age. Quinetzin dead were often cannibalized shortly after death provided they were not suffering from a disease. Their priests, however, were sent off in a much more grand fashion.
The Quinetzin Death Feast is a ritual performed near the end of the life of a priest of Cipalimetzin. When they grew old and feeble or were injured and unlikely to survive, the priest would announce his own feast and ready his body to be sacrificed to Cipali. The citizens would gather together and initiate a special hunt and harvest, gathering as much food as they can muster in a single day. Afterward, they prepare a feast for the city, presenting the priest with the best meat that was procured that day. The dying priest would then give a sermon before eating in which they would choose a successor and bless the people and their city. Their food would be laced with narcotics to numb the body and prevent any pain from the following ritual.
An altar lies at the top of the temple where the priest is laid upon after gorging on his meal. The remaining priesthood gathers around them with ceremonial daggers, cutting open their torso and removing their organs besides the stomach. The sacrificial priest is alive through most of this, numb with the narcotics they consumed in the prior meal, offering prayer to Cipali until their body gives out. The priesthood cleans the organs they remove and share them with one another to show reverence for their deceased brother. The nearly-empty torso on the altar is stuffed with fine cuts of meat leftover from the feast below, and the body is left on the altar for Cipali. The rest of the evening is usually spent in prayer followed by a day of fasting, giving Cipali the honor of the only meal that day.

Fruits of the Body

Towards the end of the ritual, the priesthood removes the organs from the torso of the sacrifice except for the stomach. The stomach is filled with meat from the prior feast and removing such would rob the sacrificed priest of his final meal and Cipali from further fresh nourishment. The intestines are cleaned out and eaten raw alongside the rest of the organs, splitting mostly evenly with the surviving priesthood. The only exception to this is the heart, which is given to the priest's chosen successor. Consuming the heart of the sacrificed is said to fill their successor with strength and goodwill to usher in a successful tenure as a priest of their people.