City Martians take
great reverence to their dead, an offshoot from the original Martians
from before the storm. Ceremonies and burial rites are important to
them but they also help to celebrate the lives that are still with
them.
When a Martian dies,
their body is burned along with their most prized possessions,
personal effects that are chosen but aren't part of the family
heirloom hoard. If no possessions have been chosen, such as through a
sudden death, then close family members will choose items they deem
suitable.
A small funeral pyre is
built on the roof of the family house and the body is paced on top
with the possessions and a small fire is lit underneath. The pyre is
doused in special oils that allow the flames to burn low and slow
consuming the body over several days. The closest relatives of the
deceased stay with the pyre until it grow cold, feeding the pyre if
it grows low, murmuring prayers and incantations to the gods. At this
time, many visitors whom knew the deceased will visit for a few hours
to talk about their City Martian brethren, sing songs and praise all
the good deeds that occurred.
Once the pyre has been
wholly consumed, the ashes are collected and placed into several
small pots (one for each of the gods) and left on the roof of the
house for a week whilst the family mourn, this also gives a chance
for distant relatives to make the journey and pay their respects.
Once the mourning period is over the family will invite other close
families to join them in the procession to the Vale of the Deceased.
Many Vales surround the older Martian settlements with the more
important Martians being interred in the older parts of the Vales.
For the new Martian communities, families either have to travel long
distances or make do with what they have. The area around New
Victoria, for example, is a vast expanse of level ground with the
occasional mesa protruding up from the desert. In these cases an
entrance way is created in the side of a mesa and the vault is dug into it as
described below.
The family would have
an area in the Vale solely for their use and it would be expanded as and when necessary. The main structure of the burial site would consist
of an entrance mound generally built in front a rock outcrop with a
short, open topped processional passage from that leading into a
vault carved from the rock. Many floors would be carved into the rock
outcrop going further down with each new generation buried. The walls
of the vaults are generally left plain with only the family name and
most recent ancestors carved above the interment area.
The grander the family,
the more impressive the entrance mound and tunnel. Each one would
have carvings of major family events (the skill of mural painting was
lost in the Great Storm along with many others). The ruling family of
course would have the grandest burial site and it would cover a
large area and have many generations interred within with a suitably
impressive entrance to the mound. If a family dies out (which by all
reports seems to be happening more often) then the close friends of
that family will block up the main tomb entrance and seal it forever
There have been reports
of human explorers trying to gain access to the vaults, very likely
with the simple intention of studying them, but the City Martians can
take great affront to any unwarranted intrusion to their vales. Some
have even placing temporary guards at the vale entrances to prevent
any unwelcome visitors...
