Canonfire! - Postfest V, Part II: Feast of All Souls

Its time to offer prayers for the dead. Who you gonna pray too? Pelor? Not likely. Its time to worship Wee Jas, Nerull and Incabulous. These and other deities of death have their day of veneration and everyone offers up their worship. Or faces the the consequences.

Feast of All Souls
By: Glenn Vincent Dammerung, aka GVDammerung
Used with permission. Do not repost without permission.

Date: 25th Patchwall
Location: Flanaess wide
Type: Religious

The Feast of All Souls is a feast in honor and remembrance of the dead. It is also a time to propitiate the gods of death, both to ward off their wrath and to help assure the good treatment of the departed. Depending on the specific area of the Flanaess in which it is celebrated, Wee Jas, Nerull or Incabulos may be particularly propitiated. It is too commonly believed that the gods of death are to be treated as bogeymen, inimical divine monsters more than true gods or deities. The gods of death are less worshiped than other more beneficent deities, but they are worshiped, and not just by their cultists or followers. At the Feast of All Souls, all offer worship to Wee Jas, Nerull, Incabulos, Joramy, Syrul, Pyremius etc. They are not worshiped out of love or devotion but out of fear and hope that they will stay their hand.

Sometimes referred to a The Day of the Dead, The Feast of All Souls is a time to pray to the dark gods but also a time to recall those who have passed on. Visits to graves are a common activity, usually before a service to the gods of death. Care is taken not to visit interments too late for it is said that the unremembered or dishonored dead may rise and walk on The Feast of All Souls. Ensuring that no departed family member would have cause to rise as one of the undead is as important as remembering and honoring one’s ancestors. The feasts that conclude the day are dignified, perhaps somber. They are not riotous affairs and there is no carousing or carrying on.

The confluence of multiple faiths paying respect to the dead on the 25th of Patchwall is no coincidence. In this month, the seasons begin to turn. Summer has given way to autumn and autumn prepares to give way to winter. It is the time of nature’s dying after the life of the year is all but passed. As one, the darker deities grow more powerful at this time of the year. The 25th of Patchwall is a convenient date but is only customary. The Feast of All Souls may be celebrated a few days before or after the 25th depending upon the area. At such times, strangers are immediately suspect and perhaps thought ill omens, if not the dead raised in the guise of the living. Clerics will always be made welcome, however, once they make themselves known.