Dwarven Funeral for King?

[Celebrim]

In my games, family and community are very important to a dwarf and they are buried prominently according to their station. There would typically be a "Hall of Kings" located in the dwarven common area where the mighty kings of old were entombed in splendor as an inspiration and lesson to the community. Carving on the king's tomb would begin early in his reign and continue throughout his life, making recognition of his accomplishments. If a king died unexpectedly, such as in a murder, the family would make a casket for the king (likely gilded) and spells of protection put on it until his tomb could be completed. The casket would be retained in some secure vault until the time came for a public wake for the fallen king, at which point a communal ritual would be held, with mourning, songs performed in honor of the king, and feasting afterwards.

Ancestor worship is common with dwarves.

In the event of murder, it would be considered appropriate to avenge the murder if possible before the wake. The king's family, his huscarls, his thanes, and the brawdjas of the household (bachelor dwarves with a plutonic allegiance to the married women of the house) would all undertake that the murderer was brought to justice. Feuds are vary serious matters among dwarves and they have a way of cascading where chains of alliances and allegiances all end up demanding that honor be upheld by joining the feud. Even the murder of a well-regarded baker could potentially have scores of dwarves out looking for the murderer's head, and the murder of a well regarded king might well summon the entire dwarven race to action.

Note that in a typical D&D setting this would likely mean any spell recourse possible would be employed to determine the murderer or the course of action necessary to find the murderer. It's also very likely that if the King was murdered without an obvious heir, that raise dead would be employed to bring the king back to life until such time as an heir was provided for. Resurrection is not generally done to usurp or thwart inheritance in my games, but would be done in cases of a life that deemed incomplete.

 

[steeldragons]

• The proper period of mourning is one full moon's turn for each year of their reign. Dwarven society slows substantially -possibly for decades- as mandatory attention/attendance to the numerous services and processions in the king's honor break up the day. Dress is expected to be somber. Overt luxury or decorative adornment (lots of rings, gold, precious stones, jewlery - other than those denoting some rank or position) is frowned upon.
• Funerary dirges are sung, daily, at morning and dusk, publicly by multiple choruses of clerics and monks and devoted family members.. These can carry on for an hour or more, citing the king's achievements, history, life story, battles, treaties, delves, marriages, children, and anything that's been beneficial to the dwarven kingdom
• A procession to the tomb's location is conducted every start of day (as the dirges proceed), mostly chanting hymns of blessing for the departed and the dwarves who have the honor of building the actual tomb.
• Construction of the king's personal final resting place in the massive funerary halls of the kingdom's long history is not begun until the king's passing. The tomb requires its own new entrance, an outer hall for offerings/visitors, thoroughly decorated with wall-carvings of the king's life and greatest accomplishments; the "public tomb" -which may involve several chambers and/or multiple levels- that is similarly decorated, along with rows and rows of Rune-spells carved upon the walls, floors and ceilings: to protect the soul of the dead, curses upon tomb-robbers, speed the king to the afterlife, and such like...; and then a hidden/secret "inner tomb" -again of several possible chambers, finally with the sarcophagus itself where the body is actually interred. Their greatest treasures, trophies, and keepsakes are interred with them.
• The months to years this construction takes (depending on the affluence and admiration the king enjoyed) is a great honor for all the dwarves who get to work upon it... several clans have been raised to great heights of fame and prosperity for their exceptional tomb-building work. Basically, the tomb of every dwarvish king is its own mini-pyramid...upside-down beneath the mountains/in the deep stone roots.