Two Crows Watch from the Gallows Tree (part 12)

“…that sounds terrible.”

"Not terrible, just spooky."

“Why are there so many dead bodies around this place?” She complained. “They’re everywhere.”

Tomhas chuckled. "Dead bodies tend to pile up when one family decides to stay somewhere for centuries. The Loquiturs have catacombs, too."

“…under the Keep?”

"Yep. And we've got a graveyard too, though the statues aren't as good as the ones here."

“Did they… just… build the Keep on top of an old graveyard? Why is it underneath?”

"They built the place with the intent of preserving the dead in wrapped furs and leather under the Keep, as a sort of Hall of Lords. That didn't work out and eventually they made the outer graveyard. I think the first two generations are the only ones down there."

“Ah.” How dark. She wouldn’t want…

Huh.

Her body would be in the Loquitur graveyard, huh? That… felt weird. She didn’t want people to come stand above her corpse. That… she didn’t like that.

"Our ancestors used to burn bodies, but once the unification happened and everyone settled, people got excited about the idea of permanence."

“Why?”

"Because that was the age where most people got tired of being nomads. They wanted things to stay put, you know? So they decided to stop cremating as well."

“But what’s the use in keeping the rotting bodies of your ancestors? Why not just release them back into nature?”

He shrugged. "Have you tried digging in the ground when it's winter? Easier to just dig one giant hole, line it with stone, and then dump the bodies there instead of digging another shitty hole every time someone dies."

“Hm… I guess so… yeah.”