#( like we dont have a weirwood but we do have a tree we regularly bury bodies around to create a symbolic representation of life and death

[blossomhcir]

Sweetgrove: Worship & Burial Practices

Sweetgrove has no sept of it’s own. When Dayrn Malus and his sons began laying the foundations for the castle the choice was made to not build a sept on the grounds despite his conversion to the Faith of the Seven. During the construction Dayrn had grown accustomed to traveling to the nearest town to attend the sept there. Newly titled Dayrn did not see himself as so lordly that he could not mingle with the smallfolk. He saw the virtue in sharing a common space with them as he acclimated to the new land and they to him. Over generations this developed into a slightly more informal moment to approach the ruling lord for inquiries or complaints.

To this day House Malus has no sept of their own and share the common sept with their people, much to the displeasure of the late Lady Esther. Lord Douglas is known to be somewhat unorthodox in his faith, only attending during holidays or during moments of crisis. He often jest that he can pray as well outside as he can in the sept. When his wife was at the sept Douglas was more like to be about managing the lands.

In contrast, Sweetgrove, as all houses of note do, has a godswood. Being a relatively new castle, the godswood has no weirwood, instead an apple tree serves as the heart tree. Instead of crypts the Malus' believe in a return of the body to the land, laying their dead to rest in graves adjacent to the godswood, mingling worship with mourning. Funerary statues are often erected on top of the graves to honor the deceased and give mourners a place to grieve.

The godswood is known as the Still Grove, as the fruit of the heart tree as well as any surrounding trees are not harvested. Instead they are allowed to fall and rot in honor of the nearby dead. Though the fruit isn't harvested, it's rumored that the unique apple grown in Sweetgrove is derived from the heart tree's fruit.

While it's traditional for those who marry into House Malus to be buried in the godswood's grounds, some choose to have alternative funeral arrangements made. When Lady Esther passed, in accordance to her wishes, she was instead laid to rest in the Cuy crypts of Sunhouse with her ancestors.