Dragonblooded after Death
The Immaculate doctrines regarding death and what comes after are quite specific: and, of all the Order's teachings, probably the most often disregarded.
-- The most strictly Immaculate view of the afterlife is that it does not exist as such: one is born into a position in the Perfected Hierarchy based on one's actions in a past life, one lives as one wishes, and how one has lived determines whether one will advance or fall on the Perfected Hierarchy when one dies and reincarnates. In this view, the corpse is meaningless after death (the soul has left it to reincarnate): the best way to be rid of it is cremation. Ghosts are also meaningless... they are largely souless illusions which are not connected to the deceased in any true way, emotional 'flare-ups' that ought be beaten down in the manner of rebellious spirits. Some even say that ghosts have REJECTED reincarnation and are thus truly heretical souls even more in need of punishment.
[OKUBO: "My place in the Perfected Hierarchy will be subjective to each individual: in childhood, I was, if I may say so, a leader and a true friend, aiding those who required it and guiding my fellows in a manner which could be considered exemplary for a Prince of the Earth. My final years may not be as clear, but it seems apparent that I took little effort to preserve contact with my former friends or family, rejected the wishes of my mother and House, and 'wasted' skills suited for a key role amongst the Realm's defenders to pitter about the Imperial City doing nothing of importance.
Murdering Mnemon Kora won't have been good for my place in the Hierarchy, either... I sure hope I'm not coming back as a hamster."]
-- A more common belief in the Dynasty is that thee is an 'afterlife'. This is not an evolved belief, as discussion of that afterlife would be heresy to Immaculate doctrine... therefore Dynasts tend to harbour less a metaphysical concept and more a leaning that has given rise to certain rituals. The dead rest easier the more satisfied they are: this comes from having lived complete lives, being buried in proper style and ceremony, and being placated with small offerings. Restless ghosts are those who died and who feel forgotten, wronged, or unavenged... they return to punish the living for the slights they perceive.
Most Dynasts outside the Order believe this sort of thing on some level, if not particularly deeply; for those who believe this most strongly (usually those furthest from the Order, such as the hedonists of House Cynis), funerals where stories are told praising the dead are seen as important to satisfy the spirit: smaller ceremonies where paper cutouts of treasures and luxuries are burned for the dead frequently occur, and the need to recover the body of a fallen comrade is quite pronounced. Some Dragonblooded lines, particularly those with links to Shogunate gens, maintain memorial tombs or pillars to the dead.
[OKUBO: "My funeral was a no-show, it seems... quick, without ceremony, in a half-complete coffin and with my big-ass dailaive grabbed from my cold hands by Mommy. And you guys couldn’t be bothered even sending any gifts or swearing mystic oaths to avenge me. No wonder someone plunked a coral 'no-ghost' hedge charm on me... I'd be pretty angry spirit, if you believe in that sort of thing."]
-- Most Dynastic funerals are a balance between these two ideas. Many will wear violet, the colour of death and funerals. The body is disposed of, with some favouring simple cremation and others a method appropriate to aspect: at sea for water, buried in the roots of a tree for wood, buried deep for earth, a funeral pyre for fire, and sky-buried (devoured by vultures) for air. Friends and family gather to share stories of the deceased’s accomplishments, everyone weeps that she has departed and expresses hope their next incarnation will be even further enlightened. Then, everyone departs and does not return to the site.
