Funeral of the King

[Lynneth]

The King was dead.

At a quite inappropriate time, but it could not be changed now.

He was to have a Funeral worthy of a King, worthy of the Kings and Lords of Bavaria's past.

He would be brought to rest in a crypt in the Frauenkirche of Munich, or the Cathedral of Our Blessed Lady. This cathedral was capable of taking in roughly 20,000 (living, of course) people, more than any other House of God in Bavaria.

Outside of the cathedral, hundreds and thousands of people were waiting for the cohort that would bring the casket, made of fine stones, to the church, where it would be carried by an Honour Guard dressed in black uniforms with the Royal Seal (or Coat of Arms) on the chest. However, before these arrived, ten men of the Royal Guard would ride to the entrance of the church, five taking position on each side of the portal, providing a short avenue through the masses of mourning citizens. Fittingly, the sky was cloudy.

Within the Cathedral, men and women of rank and honour were seated in the front, close to the altar, though some seats were kept free for a few who would arrive at a later time - with the King. Other than this, the cathedral was almost completely full, an estimated 19,700 people having gathered.

Up, in the high towers, the bells of the Frauenkirche were ringing, having begun an hour before the (expected) arrival of the cohort. (Here is an example of them ringing)

Finally, the cohort arrived. A black carriage, drawn by six black horses arrived, driving slowly enough so that the men in front and behind it could easily keep up - the Honour Guard, who would now proceed to take the stone coffin out of the carriage, which would then leave again. Behind this cohort followed several Lords and Nobles, among them Lord Vetinari.

The casket was now being carried into the cathedral, followed by the Nobles. Just as the door into the cathedral was opened, the bells suddenly stopped ringing and the massive organ began playing a funeral march. The Honour Guard carried the coffin to the altar and put it onto it, afterwards walking to the sides so that they would not obstruct the view. The Nobles meanwhile took the seats which had been kept free for them.

The organ kept playing for several minutes before silencing.

Cardinal Amadeus Walther walked before the altar, slowly and silently. Then, he began speaking, about the virtues and the sins of mankind, about the accomplishments of the King, citing bible verses here and there and many, many other things. For more than one and a half hours, he stood there, praising some things, condemning others and always finding a way to come back to the King, by comparing or other means.

Once the Cardinal had finished, some others that were close to him delivered short speeches in his honour, though none as long as that of the Cardinal. The shortest was, coincidentially, by Vetinari, who likes the King's character, though disliked his political moves and policies. The latter two were not mentioned though, and thus the coffin was brought down into the cathedral's crypt after all of the Nobles had spoken and the Cardinal consecrated the coffin and the King within it one last time.

The organ began playing once again, the same funeral march as before.

Once it had ended, the funeral was effectively over. Those who wished to leave did so - among them Vetinari - and those who wanted to stay for a bit, were allowed to do so while deep below them, in the crypt, the coffin was brought to a beautifully ornamented sarcophagus and put into it. This now was the last and hopefully eternal place of rest for King Maximilian the Third.

OOC: Bad quality.

Baaaaad.

But I have no idea how funerals work, so I wrote what made sense to me.

Edited July 18, 2009 by Lynneth

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: Meh, each funeral is different. There are different standards, so making one of your own isn't going to lift too many eyebrows.