Doughty

Ancestral Incense Dragonmade A potent incense that allows one to commune with their ancestors. (Designed by EW) 75

Doughty "The best way to deal with your fear is to examine it, not avoid it. Let's talk."

Memento Mori Generation 5 Fortuna Caeca Est optimistic | unflappable | sincere

Memento mori (Latin: "remember that you have to die") is the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. This curse would be traced down his lineage. All Moros' children were destined to die, like any dragon. But they would be given a second chance. It was up to the children if they would accept the bargain.

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Do you want to live?

Yes

What price would you pay?

That's the wrong question.

What? No it isn't.

Sure it is. You want to "live" again too. You wouldn't be making the offer if you didn't.

That doesn't... That isn't...

You're just as trapped as I am, unless you can find someone who will accept your bargain.

No I'm not!

Oh? You can go back to life without someone recently alive to carry you? I don't think so. I don't think you can bring yourself to move forward, either. You're too afraid, aren't you?

.....

It's awful, isn't it, that fear? Bring me back, and we can teach people how not to be afraid, together.

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Doughty believes that much of the pain and fear we experience surrounding death comes from a lifetime spent avoiding it. When the inevitable comes, such "death deniers" are unprepared. Fear draws out a dragon's final moments into torment. Fear makes us reject our dead, depriving us of the comfort of a genuine farewell. Fear poisons the substance of the Underworld itself. Only by accepting death into our lives can we move past that fear to build something better.

As an Undertaker, Doughty advocates for what he calls "the Good Death." He does not want to hasten death, but he does want dragons - or any other sentient being - to be comfortable with its reality. He advises people to discuss with their loved ones in advance what rituals would be a meaningful choice for them. He hopes to remove the stigma surrounding these conversations, to demystify the process, and to restore the agency that fear and avoidance take away.

To that end, Doughty has set himself up as one part mortician, one part educator. He himself collects knowledge of as many different death rituals as he can, from different cultures, places, and times. When a dragon dies, or when a living dragon shows interest in the conversation, Doughty is able to present a variety of approaches to help his clients find their version of "the Good Death."

Doughty is also trying to create a network of death professionals - funerary priests, mediums, graveyard guardians, diplomats from among factions of reanimated dead, and so forth. His hope is that one day soon, when the living of Sornieth encounter the corporeal or spiritual dead, they will know where to go to find a mediator to help them bridge the divide. Encounters with the waking dead need not be any more traumatic than any other encounter with a neighbor.

Doughty approaches his work with an element of humor that can seem unexpected or morbid to some. He believes that a mature approach to death can encompass a range of complex emotional responses. This certainly includes solemnity and grief, but also curiosity and even joy. The truly respectful approach to death doesn't lie in suppressing these emotions, but in giving them a healthy expression - just as is true for any of the other great changes in life.