Pyre-Tenders of Cidotl
The fox goddess, Cidotl, is a deity of the night and the wilderness, as well as funerary practices. Honoring the dead is one of the most important ideals in her worship. She favors cremation as her preferred method, but can accept any culturally significant way to properly dispose of a body. On the other hand, failing to lay the dead to rest is of great offense to her and her followers if done by neglect or malice. They do understand, however, that not everyone has the resources for a funeral, even a very basic one. For such people, the Pyre-Tenders of Cidotl lend their aid.
The Pyre-Tenders, who are not all actually followers of Cidotl, are an informal group of people who deeply value the care of the dead and provide simple funerals to families who cannot afford them. Usually, this means the family cannot even spare the firewood for a cremation. The Pyre-Tenders provide the required resources, conduct the rites and prayers, and ask nothing in return. Some simply do so when the need arises near them, but others dedicate their lives to the work.
Since deaths in small communities, especially those for whom a funeral cannot be conducted, are too infrequent to keep a Pyre-Tender busy, those who choose the work as a full-time occupation usually travel from town to town, conducting any funerals that are needed as they go. Sometimes the funerals are done simultaneously, but other times they are done one at a time. Only very large cities have enough people for Pyre-Tenders to spend a significant portion of the year doing their work.
Pyre-Tenders are charity workers, and since there is no structured organization behind them, most pay using donations or out of their own pocket. The wealthy often work as Pyre-Tenders for several years after coming of age, some as a way of connecting with the poor, and others to say they have.
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