(Created page with "{{DeityInfobox |name = Whisper urns |image = |type = Local faith |adjectives = - |plane = Material |alignment = Varies |areas_of_concern = Ancestors, preservation of knowledge, trees |worshipers = Primarily inhabitants of Shanidan |cleric_alignments = {{Alignment grid | on | on | on | on | on | on | on | on | on }} |domains = Family, Knowledge, Wood |divine_font = Heal |divine_skill = Nature |divine_ability = Strength or Wisdom |favored_weapon = None |symbol = None...") |
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Upon the death of an individual in Shanidan, their remains are taken in a procession of their family, friends, and community to one of the temples nestled into the foothills of the mountains, the largest and most significant of which are the [[Temple of the Whirling Sun]] in the north and the [[Temple of the Daytime Moon]] in the south. Once there their bodies are cremated in sacred chambers while one of the temple's master woodworkers sets about carving the whisper urn, a process that can take weeks. Once the cremains cool they are placed in the urn, and a ritual is begun to summon the individual's ghost, allow those who attended the procession to speak with them, and receive their permission to bind them to the urn. When complete the urn and ghost are housed in vast libraries of other urns in the temples with hundreds or thousands of others, where the ghost can then be sought for their wealth of knowledge. | Upon the death of an individual in Shanidan, their remains are taken in a procession of their family, friends, and community to one of the temples nestled into the foothills of the mountains, the largest and most significant of which are the [[Temple of the Whirling Sun]] in the north and the [[Temple of the Daytime Moon]] in the south. Once there their bodies are cremated in sacred chambers while one of the temple's master woodworkers sets about carving the whisper urn, a process that can take weeks. Once the cremains cool they are placed in the urn, and a ritual is begun to summon the individual's ghost, allow those who attended the procession to speak with them, and receive their permission to bind them to the urn. When complete the urn and ghost are housed in vast libraries of other urns in the temples with hundreds or thousands of others, where the ghost can then be sought for their wealth of knowledge. | ||
At its core, the worship of the ghosts of the whisper urns is based around the knowledge they retain after death. The people of Shanidan revere these ghosts for their ability to preserve history, culture, and expertise throughout the generations, frequently consulting with them in times and situations where information has been lost to the living. The urn-libraries are tended, protected, and maintained by the keepers of the temples, who, though their actions are greatly appreciated, are not considered to be religious figures - the ghosts themselves occupy that role. | At its core, the worship of the ghosts of the whisper urns is based around the knowledge they retain after death. The people of Shanidan revere these ghosts for their ability to preserve history, culture, and expertise throughout the generations, frequently consulting with them in times and situations where information has been lost to the living. The urn-libraries are tended, protected, and maintained by the keepers of the temples, who, though their actions are greatly appreciated, are not considered to be religious figures - the ghosts themselves occupy that role. The ghosts are not uncommonly visited by their descendants, or by the caretakers of the temples, simply to allow them to converse with others even when specific information is not sought, but for the most part they are left to rest in the afterlife. | ||
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Revision as of 21:27, 29 November 2024
Whisper urns are both a type of funerary urn and the form of ancestor and ghost worship that centers around them. Followers of this faith, most of whom are inhabitants of the nation of Shanidan, bind the ghosts of their deceased to these urns, regularly returning to confer with them in search of knowledge.
Description
Each whisper urn occupies the size of a one-foot cube - though this is much larger than is necessary to store its physical contents, the ashes of the deceased, it is created in this size so as to allow space for its ghostly inhabitant. Both the interiors and exteriors of the urns bear carved decorations, but what they depict differ. The outsides of the urns carry distinctly arboreal designs, stylized trees, branches, and leaves that hearken back to the historical origins of the urns, while the insides instead depict scenes of the deceased's former home.
History and followers
The history of whisper urns begins not in the northern Ilara Plateau, where most are now constructed, but rather in the lowlands of Bohaar to the northeast. There, millennia ago, the forest-dwelling tribe of the Shenii began to inter their dead within the trunks of the most ancient trees. When their ghosts began to appear nearby, the Shenii then bound them to the trees as a way of further honoring them. Over time the tribe became increasingly reliant on these ghosts to retain memory of their ancient knowledge as they struggled in their incessant conflicts against the hobgoblins of Kad and Vukararn. When these battles finally drove the Shenii away from their sacred groves, over the Amanas Mountains, and into the Ilara Plateau, their funerary practices were forced to adapt to a nearly treeless landscape. Rather than use entire, living trees they resorted to much smaller urns, so as to allow the ghosts to still reside comfortably in their wooden homes, built of material carried at great risk from over the mountains. As the Shenii eventually joined with others to become to modern inhabitants of Shandian, their faith spread as well, becoming common throughout the nation.
Today almost all who construct whisper urns and venerate the ghosts within live in Shanidan. When the majority of the Shenii fled over the mountains, several smaller groups of the tribe remained behind and kept their old ways alive, but as of Y9976* only one of these groups remains, living around their remaining sacred grove near the Heart-Torn Lake.
Beliefs and practices
Upon the death of an individual in Shanidan, their remains are taken in a procession of their family, friends, and community to one of the temples nestled into the foothills of the mountains, the largest and most significant of which are the Temple of the Whirling Sun in the north and the Temple of the Daytime Moon in the south. Once there their bodies are cremated in sacred chambers while one of the temple's master woodworkers sets about carving the whisper urn, a process that can take weeks. Once the cremains cool they are placed in the urn, and a ritual is begun to summon the individual's ghost, allow those who attended the procession to speak with them, and receive their permission to bind them to the urn. When complete the urn and ghost are housed in vast libraries of other urns in the temples with hundreds or thousands of others, where the ghost can then be sought for their wealth of knowledge.
At its core, the worship of the ghosts of the whisper urns is based around the knowledge they retain after death. The people of Shanidan revere these ghosts for their ability to preserve history, culture, and expertise throughout the generations, frequently consulting with them in times and situations where information has been lost to the living. The urn-libraries are tended, protected, and maintained by the keepers of the temples, who, though their actions are greatly appreciated, are not considered to be religious figures - the ghosts themselves occupy that role. The ghosts are not uncommonly visited by their descendants, or by the caretakers of the temples, simply to allow them to converse with others even when specific information is not sought, but for the most part they are left to rest in the afterlife.