Funeral for the Denizens of Yiling

[yinyangwizard]

The plain non-denominational chapel next to the library has been transformed into a small Buddhist temple. A large statue of Amitābha Buddha sits on the altar, flanked by vases of flowers and with a small censer full of sandalwood burning before it. Some platters with fruit offerings have also been placed on the altar are four little memorial tablets: one for Wei Ying, one for Wen Ning, one for Wen Qing, and one that says simply "The Wen family," in the manner of an ancestral tablet.

The walls are hung with saffron drapery. Between the drapes and in the rafters are polished brass lanterns shaped like lotus flowers. The wooden pews are set with red cushions, on which are little paper books titled The Smaller Sukhavativyuha Sutra.

When the funeral rites are finished and the mourners return to the main bar, they will find other changes. One of the booths has been turned into a sort of small family shrine that holds the memorial tablets of the recently deceased and a brazier for burning spirit money. There is also a table where mourners can do various things to transfer merit to the deceased and help provide them with a good rebirth. A couple of large tables have been set with food and drink for the funeral guests.

[OOC: This is structured like an All Skate or party post, in which there are multiple top-level tags for different areas and activities. The ceremony in the chapel is only the beginning.]

[Tinytag: Inspector Zenigata]

[Tinytag: Wormwood]

[Tinytag: Jin Guangyao]

[Tinytag: Phoenix Wright]

[Tinytag: Jonathan Sims]

Comments

The Ceremony - READ ONLY

[yinyangwizard]

Abe no Seimei, dressed in grey robes, stands before the altar and bows to the assembled mourners. He has been here overnight, keeping vigil and chanting prayers. "Thank you for coming here today to honor the memory of Wei Ying, Wen Ning, Wen Qing, and the Wen of the Yiling Burial Mounds," he says. He does not speak loudly, but his voice carries. "Everyone who would care to pay respects to the departed is here. Unfortunately we do not have the physical remains of our friends to treat properly, but we will do what we can to help their souls be reborn in Amitābha Buddha's Pure Land." He nods to the Buddha statue on the altar.

"During this time, the souls of Wei Ying and the Wens are in a transitory state where their loved ones can influence their karmic journey. In honor of Wei Ying, Wen Ning, Wen Qing, and the Wen Remnants, and for their merit, I will recite the Smaller Sukhavativyuha Sutra, for it describes the Pure Land where we hope they will be reborn. By following along in your books and even reciting to yourself, you do a virtuous deed that will help our friends."

Seimei turns to the statue of the Buddha, bows, and begins reciting the sutra. He does so in Mandarin Chinese, but the Bar's translation effect ensures that everyone present can understand the words. It takes a little over ten minutes.

When he is done he bows to the Buddha again and turns to the audience. "Thank you again for joining us. I encourage you to keep the sutra books and perhaps recite from them yourselves to transfer merit to our departed friends. We will reconvene downstairs for additional rites and a meal. Rae-san, at the door, will give you each an envelope of spirit money to burn in a brazier downstairs, following Taoist tradition."

Seimei will be a little late getting downstairs: he has to escort Lan Zhan, who is sitting in the front row, back to his room. He is recovering from severe injuries, after all, and does not have it in him to walk about or socialize with the other mourners.

The Spirit Money Brazier

[yinyangwizard]

The walls and table of the dining booth have been draped in red and black. A large brazier bowl sits on the end of the table, filled with burning charcoal (which, somehow, does not produce any noxious smoke). Behind the brazier is a small table and on that are the four little funeral tablets from the altar in the chapel - how they made their way down here is unclear. In the brazier, funeral guests can burn the spirit money distributed to them.

[OOC: You can also burn other things in the brazier! Paper grave goods, written prayers, letters, real money, etc.]

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[hat_and_dimples]

Jin Guangyao drifts by, not dressed for a funeral at all. He pulls a piece of paper and the fountain pen he got from Abe no Seimei out of his sleeve and writes something on it.

Then, he burns it, with utterly composed posture and proper ceremony.

[zenigatcha]

Zenigata's come to do his part -- he supplied the Wens with money, too, and so he does his share here as well, love and hope all bundled up with paper goods.

"Jin Guangyao," he greets, voice more gravelly than normal and somber. He notes the dress -- hoping it's not a direct insult when Zenigata's standing here in his charcoal gray suit (a formal occasion demanded his one good suit, actually fitted to his frame) being exceptionally sad.

He doesn't want to be angry, though, so... he'll give the man the benefit of the doubt.

[hat_and_dimples]

"Zenigata-qianbei," Jin Guangyao says, nodding at the big man.

He takes off his hat and pulls out a long pin from his hair to stoke the little fire with, making sure all the paper burns completely.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[mogget_cat]

Something small and soft leans against his ankle.

Yrael is also not dressed for a funeral, though perhaps white fur counts.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[hat_and_dimples]

"Oh, it's you," Jin Guangyao says, bending down to touch the soft ears and scratch along the fluffy white jaw. "May I pick you up?"

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[yinyangwizard]

When there are fewer people at the brazier, Seimei approaches it himself. In addition to spirit money he has a sheaf of papers on which he has written the Lotus Sutra. He feeds the papers to the flames, one by one.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[magnus_archivist]

Jon doesn't know the people the mourning is for. He never met them, never heard their stories. He doesn't know these rites, other than things you absorb by osmosis living in a multicultural city.

But still, there's a... fellow-feeling, after so many months of reading accounts of the worst days of strangers' lives. That there's a reckoning due, after being privy to so much pain that is not his own. So after a discussion with Bar, he carefully feeds a handful of paper money to the brazier.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[yinyangwizard]

“Hello,” Seimei greets the stranger. “Did you know any of them?” He glances sidelong at the memorial tablets.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[magnus_archivist]

"Ah... no, not as such." He allows - he's heard a couple of the names here and there, in announcements from the Bar and notices on the board. "I don't know many people here."

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[take_that]

Phoenix, dressed in a grey tracksuit, sets the paper money he was given into the brazer and lights it, stepping back with a small, awkward nod.

A bit strange to be at a funeral for someone you only met once, but hey, he's been doing a bit of mourning himself lately. It feels right, somehow.

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[awkwardbot]

Plan01: leave right after the funeral without talking to anyone was scuttled when they gave all the guests spirit money to burn. It didn’t seem right to keep it or return it. So now I was on Plan02: attend the funeral, burn the spirit money, and then get out without talking to anyone.

(Plan02 was not going to work out either.)

Re: The Spirit Money Brazier

[lonesome_moonflower]

Wormwood only knew one of the deceased and not for very long, but in the time they spent together Wen Ning had proved himself to be a kind, courageous, and talented person. Wormwood wasn't sure if they counted as friends yet, but they hoped they were, or at least that they would become so. Now that's not going to happen, and the thought makes Wormwood feel hollow and lost. They didn't have any clothes to wear to the ceremony, so Bar's given them a matching robe and pants in white with dark blue trim.

None of these funerary customs are familiar to them but it appears that paying their respects to Wen Ning requires them to burn symbolic paper. Gripping the envelope tightly between the three leaves of their hand, they slowly and painstakingly position it above the brazier with an expression of intense focus, then drop it into the coals before the heat can set their arm alight.

Transferring Merit

[yinyangwizard]

There is another table with some unusual things on it - some wooden alms bowls of the type that mendicant monks would carry, cylinders of joss sticks and matchboxes next to incense holders, and ornate little bells and small gongs. A sign on the table says,

Please help transfer merit to the deceased to help them be reborn in the Pure Land. You can provide alms which will go to the Bar funds for the bound, children, and the poor; light a stick of incense; and ring the bells or gongs. Chanting the name of Amitābha Buddha or saying other prayers for the deceased will also help.

Re: Transferring Merit

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine, looking very unlike herself in snow-hued white, quietly lights a stick of incense, and settles to watch it burn.

She doesn't know prayers, or chants, but she knows intimately the feeling of wanting something too hard, of sending out half-worded wishes for peace and protection, good rest and good fortune for people whose lives sorely lacked such blessings. She is on a first-name basis with the ache of not receiving an answer, and the burn of knowing that all good will only ever comes too late; it stings in her heart and in her throat and in the corners of her eyes, though perhaps that is just the smoke of the incense.

[zenigatcha]

Real cash money is placed for alms, but Zenigata appears at Rae's side a moment later. He shifts slightly, one arm moving up, open-- like he'd pat her, or open his arm for her to lean on him if she needs.

Normally, he'd slide right into the action, like a puzzle piece finding it's slot. Funerals make people delicate, fragile. He's a big man with big emotions, and his have all been turned inward. Grief is just love with no place to rest, after all, and Zenigata's got a heart full of love with no place to go. Not everyone needs that, right now, so he's at his most carefully bottled.

"Rae," is all he says by way of greeting. There's not much else that can be said.

Re: Transferring Merit

[cook_the_rude]

For part of his teenage years, Hannibal Lecter was co-raised by a descendant of the samurai class, so he knows very well what to do; that much is obvious.

He is wearing a completely neutral light grey suit, no plaid or paisley in view for once, and he is lighting incense and reciting quietly under his breath.

He has given all the silver Lan Wangji had given him to provide for the Wens to the fund for the Bound, and matches it with an equal amount of his own money for the fund for unaccompanied minors.

Re: Transferring Merit

[sunbaked_baker]

At some point, Sunshine is there with a cup of tea. She is out of tears, for now, though she knows there will be more later.

She would argue that the second cup of tea isn't for Hannibal specifically, if she had energy to spare for arguing. The second cup of tea is just there... in case anyone needs a cup of tea.

Re: Transferring Merit

[lonesome_moonflower]

It's a relief to have something they can do to help that doesn't involve setting anything on fire. Wormwood rummages in their pockets and drops four silvery, multi-lobed coins stamped with the image of a mushroom on one side and the number ten on the other; forty oincs would buy them eight lunches at the Sterling Trough Deli, and they don't usually carry much more on their person anyhow because of the pickpockets in Swinesbury. Afterwards, they take up one of the little bells.

A Quiet Recception

[yinyangwizard]

A couple of large tables have been set buffet-style with selections of food (all vegetarian) and urns of green and black tea. Funeral guests may eat, drink, and mingle here, or at the surrounding tables.

[OOC: There is no alcohol offered as that would not be appropriate for a Buddhist funeral. But there's nothing stopping your pups from getting some on their own...]

[zenigatcha]

Who is that giant man who speaks little and gives no huge gestures? That really is Zenigata, in the only fitted suit he owns that isn't a brown, baggy thing that hangs on his frame. Dressed in charcoal gray for the occasion, he is as sober and somber as they come, standing with a cup of tea in hand.

There's not much to say to anyone, so he just stands there until he's needed for more assistance. He'll be working with Seimei over the next few days for this, and for them, this work has only just begun.

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei comes by after getting Lan Zhan settled back into his room upstairs. “Zenigata-keibu, thank you again for helping me with all this. I hope Lan Wangji will be up to participating in the third-day and seventh-day rites.”

If he is he will be doing them secretly, in Cloud Recesses.

Re: A Quiet Recception

[mogget_cat]

Yrael sips his tea, leaning against one of the tables nearer the Observation Window and reflecting on what it shows. He had attended the funeral, but sees no worth in burning paper and will not touch the bells or gongs. If the Dead truly pass on, they are beyond the reach of any smoke or bell. If they do not, well...

He would not mind getting his ears scritched by Wen Ning again, or hearing poetry from Wei Wuxian.

Really, it may only be coincidence that his customary white clothes fit well with the funeral-wear.

Re: A Quiet Recception

[yinyangwizard]

Seimei comes up carrying a cup of green tea in one hand and a seaweed-wrapped rice ball in the other. “Yrael-sama, thank you for coming to honor the memory of our friends.”

He does not ask why Yrael refrained from burning spirit money. Seimei does not know what his world’s funerary customs are - perhaps they prohibit such things.