Properly disposing of corpses was very important for the people of Kyol. If the blood was left to rot, there was a small chance that the deceased could become a revenant – a soul whose impure blood kept them anchored to the mortal realm and corrupted their mind towards evil. Thus, most people were cremated after death. In some cases, they’d be disposed of by an early form of water cremation. The body would be dumped into a highly acidic geothermal spring and allowed to dissolve.
While cremation was quick and simple, it had one major disadvantage – the bones weren’t preserved. Preserved bones acted as an anchor for spirits. After death, the soul moved out of the bones and went to the afterlife, which was much like the real world, though there one was immortal. The souls of those whose bones had been preserved could still move on to the afterlife, but could observe the world through their bones, and offer guidance and protection.
Thus, important people were excarnated (defleshed), allowing them to interact with the mortal world. The bones would then be put in ossuaries located in the house. As excarnation was expensive, and ossuaries had limited space, only the bones of the most important were preserved. Because of the cost of excarnation, which was higher in the early years of the practice, a family’s rise in wealth and status could be traced back to the time when the first bones were placed in their ossuary. As such, a large ossuary was a sign of status – an indicator that a family’s wealth was generational.
Spirits in the afterlife required sustenance. They could still hunt and farm in the afterlife, but they could also consume food that was burned near their bones. Burning offerings at the ancestral shrines was considered a sign of piety.