Headcanon: Rites for the Dead
So in case you missed it, I posted earlier a minor discussion of Ionian Funeral Rites, and that got me thinking of how each City-State honors it’s dead. I would like to go into each individual method, but I think that would take far too much time, so instead I will divide them by City-State.
Noxus is the Second only to the Shadow Isles for ‘places you don’t want to be buried’ due to their limited (if existent) laws protecting the rights of the deceased. In fact, few Noxians will avidly defend the rights of the Dead after their Will has been executed. While most would expect Noxus to just stick the dead in Crypts (This is the most common and comes at no cost to the Relatives of the Deceased) The truth is Noxus performs all forms of Burials, but those that prevent necromancy are generally more expensive.
Demacia, like Noxus, practices all forms of Burials. Unlike Noxus, the dead are usually Sanctified in some way and defiling remains of the deceased in any way is considered a High Crime in Demacia and can land you Twenty To Life. Demacian Crypts and Graveyards are very well-maintained and ironically, well-illuminated.
Piltover respects their dead probably as much as any modern country does. They will leave the method of burial specific to what may have been requested in the Will or, bar that, at the discretion of any immediate family or relatives. Defiling the Dead is a crime in Piltover but it’s not as avid as, say, Demacia. Burial sites are appropriately maintained and most Crypts are considered Private (you need to be related to someone buried to be allowed access)
Zaun spares little thought for the Dead, it just doesn’t have a whole lot of time for them. Cremations are common in Zaun, though some ‘special interests’ in Zaun may actually pay you for your deceased relatives (these ‘special interests’ either experiment on bodies or sell the corpses to Noxian Necromancers) Burials and Funerals do happen, but they are far from common as the hurried life of a Zaunite offers little time for such things. Things like Embalming and Mummification are either prohibitively expensive or flat out not available due to time resources.
The most common type of Burial in Bilgewater (especially after the Shadow Isles started attacking) has been a Burial At Sea (this respects the dead as most deceased are sailors of some sort, and it’s not worth the effort to get the corpse for necromancy) or a Viking Funeral may also be given (putting a body in a boat, sailing it off, and when it’s far enough from shore, shooting a fire arrow at it and causing the boat to sink.) On-Land Burials are generally rare, and Cremations, while they do happen, are excessively rare due to pricing and stigma in certain circles.
Ionian Burial Rites were once some of the most beautiful in all of Runeterra, and indeed Ionians have more reverence of their deceased than any other city-state. However, after Noxus invaded and set Ionian Undead on it’s people, Ionians began shifting to rituals that end with the destruction of the body so the dead could not be set upon them again. This doesn’t mean that Burials don’t happen anymore, only that they are less common than they used to be.
Shurima does not have the most beautiful burials in the world, but they have the time to respect their dead. Embalming and Mummification are very commonplace in the Shurima and actually much less expensive than other city-states. Many choose to be buried in Crypts but some extremely wealthy Shurimans may pay Tomb Raiders to ‘place’ a relative in a Floating Pyramid.
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