Lore Entry - The Graveyard (Patreon)

At the edge of the market is a graveyard. It sits nestled among a grove of trees and expands outwards into a sea of mausoleums and faded headstones.  This is where most go when they die. When a soul passes, a grave appears, waiting for its occupant to be laid beneath the dirt. Their name is etched upon a headstone where a single clock hangs over the front.  There, it ticks away, letting family members know when the soul can return to the market, to resume their life. Sometimes this takes days. Other times it takes years. No one quite knows why some return sooner than others.

Family is often waiting for them upon exhumation day. Small celebrations are held for the rebirth of life.  Upon returning to the world, the soul is often weak and disoriented.  If there is no family waiting for them to take them home, the graveyard keeper invites them to stay for a few days. Just until they are on their feet. Others, do not return to life. Deciding that their life was complete, they let their clock crack.  From there, they seep into the market and preside in the afterlife until one day, their grave fades away.

The Graveyard is watched over by an elderly man named Victor and his son Herald.  They live in a cobbled together church at the top of the hill.  Victor, a retired doctor/scientist, helps with the process of embalming the bodies and bringing them back from the dead. His son Herald, can often be seen, a coffin strapped to his back, wandering the market to bring the dead to their resting place.  The two of them protect the graveyard together, a ferrier of the dead that seems just as eternal as the graveyard itself.