Intergalactic Summit

I think my personal preference on the matter is pretty solidly established by now... but yeah, supply issues aside, I'd really love a two-month 'we are all MinFac now' deployment.

It might make it a little difficult to keep our stockpiles in Amarr tended, but eh, that's what cut-out and shell corps are for.

Thank you, madame Repswarm Director.

I don't remember Matari having much of a sense of humour about Karen Midular's assassination, either.

Why yes, it's disrespectful to return the body back to nature so that it can contribute to the natural cycle of birth, growth and decay. Just so you know, we do not just toss bodies onto the side of a plateau. There are rituals to put the spirit to rest, a moment of silence and other things.

Our practice also doesn't have us risking a prion or a blood disease either.

And we don't toss them. We're Sebiestor for crying out loud...

... we use home-made catapults.

C'mon, you really think she's going to listen to the truth? Just let her keep her bigoted notions - she's no more our friend than her erstwhile idol, Nauplius.

But as actual funerary proceedings go? There are even fewer scavengers on stations - but for us, the immediate family accompanies the dead to the surface. I haven't had the misfortune yet - my grandparents died before I was born, and my uncles are either alive, or in the State and not telling us if he's dead. I assume Cailyn would get in touch, though.

Yes, that's what we do to our dead. At least that's what we Sebiestor do to our dead. I cannot speak for the other Tribes.

As one of your priests preached, "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

Our funerary rites is based on a similar idea, except we believe not in God but in the Great Mother, and we also believe that the spirit of our forebears do return to the realm of the living once a year.

Not my problem. I'm not a citizen.

Besides, us Egivands? No matter where we are in the cluster we always send the bodies of our own dead to the Clan Enclave, wherever it is, for the sky burial or some variance thereof.

For now it's Skarkon II. Who knows where our Enclave end up in the a generation or two later.

The Federation stands for individual freedom. That includes religious freedoms. As long as you don't infringe other people's rights, you are good to go. There is however, usually a process of authorisation required from the local governing body.

Such rituals are clearly not allowed on the streets or rooftops of great cities - anymore than the Minmatar allow their dead to be consumed in the village centre - there are plenty of planets and continents far away from human habitation which can be licensed for the ceremonies. I understand that in the great population centres, many Minmatar groups have bought their own lands on nearby planets for providing services.

On our Estates, we have set aside several places in the southern mountains for our Minmatar employees. It must also be noted that many Minmatar families across the Federation have enough money to take the deceased back to their ancestral homes in the Republic, and this seems to be the preferred approach if affordable.

There are probably more than a million different rituals for disposing of the dead available in the Federation. And a very flourishing funerary business to service those varied needs. Infinite diversity in infinite decomposition, if you will.

The planet is crap. It's a miracle we survived and somehow managed to thrive on this desolate backwater where the water is so briny you can't even sink a pebble in it and the commodities so scarce even the Republic figured that further investment on this planet is like flushing ISK down a sink. Sometimes had to wonder if my parents and most of the clan surviving the crash-landing on this planet was a miracle or a curse.

We are well aware of the Cartel efforts on this planet and will gladly refuse your fruit, no matter how sweet and succulent. We are doing okay on this dustbowl, thanks.