The Klingon ceremony in which those who would succeed a dead leader confirm that he is truly dead by striking the body with painstiks, performed for K'mpec in Reunion.
Sonchi is the first step in choosing a new leader of the Klingon High Council. The body of the dead chancellor is displayed, and each claimant in turn issues a ritual challenge and jabs the corpse with a painstik. When there is no response the Arbiter of Succession declares the leader dead. The word itself means that he is dead.
The ceremony is seen in The Next Generation episode Reunion. After Chancellor K'mpec dies of slow poisoning, Picard, whom he has named arbiter, presides as Gowron and Duras carry out the rite aboard K'mpec's ship.
A bomb explodes during the ceremony and kills members of both parties. Picard's investigation of the blast, which is traced to a Romulan device hidden in the arm of one of Duras's men, shapes the rest of the episode.