Nirzali/Pagan Funerals

The recent funeral made me curious, since other religions have some information on burial practices: What would a Nirzali funeral look like? Would the practices be any different from an Azadi funeral (aside from different prayers, and the like)? What about pagan funerals in general (which is very broad, I know)?

Generally speaking, Nirzalite and other pagan funeral customs will tend to follow whatever the local practice is, rather than relying heavily on rites centered on a particular deity. ("Local practice" itself will depend on overall heritage, more restricted ethnic or tribal customs, and regional influences.)

Many pagan funerals will invoke spirits or gods of the earth or underworld to see the soul of the departed safely to the Otherland (and safely away from the living world), and there is often loud ritual mourning associated with the funeral procession or the hours after death. Influenced by Azadi culture, many Nirzalites in Amunat and Raziya have adopted a more low-key practice in conducting the body to the place of burial, in which it is appropriate to weep copiously during the funeral procession, and shed a few tears upon the shrouded body, but noise and ostentation are frowned on.

Among the most dedicated Nirzalites, some believe that Nirzali herself helps guide souls on their journey from the living world to the realm of the dead, just as she guides people in life. This would be most common among her priesthood, or her more devoted lay servants. Some of those who hold this belief this will place special teardrop amulets within the shroud of the deceased, meant to invoke the Outcast's protection.

In the Izendi Highlands, some of the divine Kunduzi kings will arrange to have their bodies and those of their families ferried across Nirzali's Mirror and -- depending on what one believes, as ordinary people are not allowed so far onto the lake -- either interred in stunning burial complexes on an island in the middle of the Mirror, or dropped into the water where their souls descend to live in a magnificent underwater city, and may return to life as the merfolk jengu.