Dwarves

Deep Roads Dwarves believe deeply in The Stone, all come from her and return to her throughout their lives. They do this by entombing their dead within her, almost all Deep Roads are dwarves sealed in stone containers upon death to prevent the Darkspawn from defiling their corpses. However Dwarves cannot not truly return to The Stone unless the ritual words have been spoken over their corpse, as seen done by Hawke for a redeemed Legionnaire (Legacy DLC). The ritual words being: “Atrast tunsha. Totarnia amgetol tavash aeduc.” (so far untranslated).

Typically Noble dwarves and Paragons will be buried within detailed and intricate crypts and sarcophagi, while commoner dwarves are encased in piled stone plots. If stone cairns are unavailable for the burial, whatever the reason, they are buried beneath the solid ground. Meanwhile casteless and surface dwarves are considered unworthy of the Stone and are believed to roam the empty caverns of the Deep Roads as spirits and/or Rock Wraiths.

Dwarves also believe the quality of the Dwarf who returns to The Stone affects “her”. A Dwarf who was considered to be a disappointment or rebel and was sent to The Stone weakened “her”, while one of merit and possibly a Paragon strengthened “her”. Those who would “poison” “her” are often disposed of by fire, these being dwarves who have been defiled and/or eaten on by darkspawn after death.

Legionnaires bury their own brethren within the Deep Roads, typically within large shared areas. The nature of their personal burials, mean the last of the Legionnaires do not receive a burial and are never returned to The Stone they had finally earned through their deaths; since no dwarves are left to bury the dead.

Elves

The Ancient Elves were said to be immortal and live forever, thus lacking burial rites. Instead Ancient Elves would become weary of life and lay down for their spirits to cross over into the Beyond. They would return centuries later to share the knowledge they had found.

During these long sleeps, know as Uthenera, servants would attend to the physical forms and preserve them for when they’d awaken. Oils would be rubbed into their skin to help them consume the knowledge they found and keep their bodies from decaying. Herbs were burnt in the chambers to strengthen their connections to the Fade during the sleep. While a potion of honey, herbs, and water would sustain them physically.

Many Elves who entered the last wave of Uthenera would never wake up, their physical forms forgotten and decayed away. Thus turning the sleeping chambers to burial grounds and abandoned tombs. 

After the fall of Arlathan and the elves gain of mortality, elves of the Dales were buried in burial sites with markers and stone tombs. Most of the these still standing landmarks house Great Warriors and Respected Elders.

Dalish now bury their dead within the ground and plant trees above them, poems and songs of mourning are sung as they are passed onto Falon’Din. However, Falon’Din is no longer physically around to guide the elves home, thus they lay their dead with an oaken staff (representing Falon’Din) to guide them along their path to the Afterlife. As well as a cedar branch (representing Dirthamen) to chase off Fear and Deceit, the crows who once served Dirthamen and are now without a master. It is believed that the trees planted above the Dalish’s dead is to represent that even with each death of their people, they live on and will never die out.

Meanwhile, City Elves follow the human rites of cremation, this is so they stand out less among humans and are more accepted into their society.

Humans (Andrastians)

The Chantry calls for cremation in all their funeral rites. As Andraste was burned and returned to the Maker, so shall her followers be. While Nobility and Royalty tend to have larger, grander pyres to send them off; Commoner pyres are often no more than a ring of stones and occur within the city limits, despite fire risks. While criminals are burned on mass pyres, all at once. The ashes of the dead are then cared for how the deceased’s loved ones see fit, they can be buried, spread, or kept as decided. The practice of cremation is believed to also ward off any attempts of demonic possession and/or use of blood magic.

Nevarra is the only Andrastian exception to this, as they practice Necromancy and build cities of the dead. This comes from the Nevarran belief that as a being dies and enters the Fade, they displace one of the Maker’s Children, a spirit. So in exchange for the person’s place among the Maker’s side, the spirit is allowed a mummified corpse and the experience of being in the World of the Living. Thus the Mortalitasi create the Cities of the Dead, entire catacombs of possessed corpses nurtured by them.

Due to the macabre nature and questionable practice of the Mortalitasi, as well as their active support for spirit possession, there is much fear and controversy in the Chantry about Nevarra’s practice.

Avvar

When it comes to non-Andrastian practices, Avvar are the ones most well known. The Avvar believe the afterlife to be guided by the sky, specifically the Lady of the Skies.

The Avvar believe that some of their dead are destined to be reborn anew and are favored by fate. These individuals are not known by memory, as the resurrected chosen are acknowledged to not remember their past lives; rather these individuals are said to be guided by past experiences, having the unconscious knowledge of what must be done. These beings are often encased whole in stone coffins.

Those not reborn join their loved ones in the Afterlife and simply live on in death together.

The Avvar’s actual burial rite is not so much of a burial. A procession is led for the deceased Avvar and their loved ones sing for them as they strip the deceased’s flesh from their bones and cut their bones into pieces, all before laying them out on a ritual slab. Then raptors (predator birds) feed upon their remains, the most common to appear being crows, and return them to the skies.

Qunari

The least is known about the Qunari death rites. The only information available is that when Qunari warriors die, it is their swords and not their bodies retrieved. The Weapon is the Qunari’s true soul, while their body is no more than a husk.

There is nothing regarding whether all Qunari (not just those of the Antaam) have a soul weapon and if they do not, what happens to non-combatant Qunari after they die.

Sources: The Stolen Throne, The Masked Empire, World of Thedas Vol. 1, Dragon AGE: Tabletop Set 1, Dragon AGE: Tabletop Set 2, Dragon Age 2 (Legacy DLC), Dragon Age Codex Entries (e.g. Uthenera, Falon’Din, etc.)

1. weedforcats liked this
2. flowersonpebbles liked this
3. queer-sadie-adler liked this
4. in-arlathan reblogged this from dreadfutures
5. temperqnce reblogged this from dreadfutures and added:

   if anything this cemented the fact that for me, Work Song is dwarf coded

6. about2dance liked this
7. veilsguards liked this
8. missymistake liked this
9. breadedsinner liked this
10. calicokitty402 liked this
11. in-arlathan liked this
12. dreadfutures reblogged this from dreadfutures
13. ilikecommas liked this
14. sun-the-shattered liked this
15. lifegoblet liked this
16. vanyan-nyan liked this
17. stavrogine liked this
18. tunesykari liked this
19. https-tsuki liked this
20. mxlunabomb liked this
21. shanaraharlyah liked this
22. theboglad liked this
23. iredara reblogged this from dreadfutures
24. iredara liked this
25. dreadfutures liked this
26. heartsyhawk reblogged this from norageonlypancakes
27. itsdeergemini liked this
28. imayhaveaphysicalform liked this
29. elvenglory liked this
30. chaosroid liked this
31. dragonageoutlet reblogged this from ageofdragon
32. donuttouchdaddy liked this
33. sagabarnes liked this
34. garret-the-ghoul liked this
35. celestialsartist liked this
36. qunari-apologist reblogged this from idkjustsomegames
37. tossacointoyourdovahkiinvhenan reblogged this from caela-rose-dragon-age
38. bemused-writer reblogged this from thethirdamell
39. hummelchen01 reblogged this from enrychan
40. zealiousananas reblogged this from thethirdamell
41. zealiousananas liked this
42. skijoring-with-blight reblogged this from broodygaming
43. melyzard liked this
44. tenaya-pyweack liked this
45. casthekat liked this
46. ageofdragon posted this
47. Show more notesLoading...