RS103
‘Pillar’ or ‘pike’ shrines are markers used to honour the memory of the dead. Found in and around erjan settlements and in the wild alike, the shrines are a feature of the Erjan landscape almost as ubiquitous as ash itself. A pillar shrine’s design will vary by region, class, and artisanal aptitude, but the basic design is universal, and consists of two primary parts: the pillar, a central shaft made of wood, metal, or even glass, and the standard, an ornamental fabric meant to hang in the air and catch the winds of the wastes.
The tradition of the pillar shrine begins in Erjan religion: that Ybris ordains all things granted existence to occupy Nyue’s splendor must, in time, be returned to the void—and thus, that all things must die. Pillar shrines serve not only as monuments of remembrance, but also symbols of defiance against a divine arrangement erjans believe is cruel, with the shrine meant to symbolize and sustain the brilliance once added to Nyue’s grace by the lost loved one, in an effort to “work around” Ybris’ promise of death.