So, my 2p'orth... In Balazar, the Yelmalion cult is a lot closer to the "Mountain Sun" aspect of Yelmalio, and also to Vrimak, as evidenced by the prevalence of Great Hawk riding amongst favoured senior Initiates and Rune levels (there's a minor Heroquest that goes with that, and a story).
Although wood isn't in such short supply as in Sun County (and perhaps because - the funerary pyre wouldn't be so expensive to build), I have it that the bodies of the honoured Yelmalion dead are "laid out to the sky" on pylons in high places; both given back to the sky and offered for the hawks, which don't take long to pick clean the bones. Two weeks later, the bones and whatever's left are taken down in due ceremony and cremated over charcoal. What happens to them thereafter varies by location, and their families' decision. (If you're interested, email me; it's outside the scope of this posting.)
Jon
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