Priest of Death

1. Priest of Death

   #1

   World requirements:
   This is not for worlds with x gods of death, there should be only one, the "classical" godly power of Death. It has no priesthood, and in fact no true worshippers. There should be also considerable conflicts and wars in the present, or in most recent history.
   
   
   About Death
   Death is not a he or she, it is not even a person, as we mortals might see it. It is a principle, the Final Law. Some say it is here from the beginning, and it shapes the world as other gods do, if in different way. Some whisper it came into being from beliefs of masses, and assumed the place of this principle. Whatever it be, it has only one business with mortals, fair and terrible.
   
   The Age of Torment came, and many have died. Wars, pests and famine brought forth its rotten fruits. How many confused souls does it need to make the Grim Reaper notice? How many pleas and how many cries can make a being without emotions feel something?
   
   What it was we will never know. Was it annoyance with those mortals that don't know how to die? Was it pity, or simply the sense that something "is not right" in the world?
   
   But Death is much different from other Powers, even if it meets many more mortals, it knows even less of what the world needs to heal. But other gods have their mortal agents, so why not try a fitting one?
   
   
   Dirius
   Sometimes Life begins with Death. When he was born, his mother died, and from that moment Death seemed to be always present. Who has not died from pest was killed, and in the harsh times that followed many have met either fate. Growing up without roots in a torn land made him bitter like many others that shared the same dubious luck of being alive. At times he felt a cold piece of black cloth approaching a person, and he was wise enough to hide it, even as that person died moments later. But if he was alone, he often debated aloud the world and the injustice with the imaginary Death. And so he talked to himself, questioning it, threatening it, and making plans to cheat or capture. The one thing he really desired was to change things on a large scale, to the better. He was a bit crazy, as you might say, until that cold feeling came to him, and with it, Death itself.
   
   "Is it the time for me to die?" whispered Dirius?
   "Not yet." was the answer...
   
   
   The Priest
   Dirius is a man around thirty, looking older than that and worn through hard life. He is wise in the sense of having seen many things and many places, but finds it lacking for his purposes. A lack of any true education can be also felt, as he is very slow in reading, and yet slower in writing. After a short phase of feeling overmighty he calmed down. (Telling a cruel warlord to make peace with his enemies can earn you a few mortal sword-wounds, and it did.) He keeps his status and powers a secret, as few would trust someone claiming to be a Death-priest, and still fewer a true one.
   
   
   The Purpose
   The task is as easy, as it seems impossible: to significantly reduce the number of deaths in these troubled times. Death does not care on how it will happen, wonderful peace or a cruel tyranny that rules the land, unimportant.
   
   
   Powers
   It was a deal: became a representative of this Power, with a touch of its divine might. Surely, Death would not prolong his life, but would also not allow to shorten it.
   
   A bit of Immortality: until the day when he has to die, he cannot die nor be killed. Tasting this has left him deeply afraid of combat or other dangerous situations. Even deep wounds will heal quite fast, but the pain is too terrible to risk. What is more, he does not know when he has to die... and if he can evade it.
   
   Close to the grave: no Undead will attack him, and he could persuade some into service, if he would try. Should he spend serious time with their study, he could learn to make them simply 'leave' onto eternity.
   
   Touch of The Reaper: Dirius' natural ability to sense people close to Death has been enhanced. Now, even hours before their passing away can he recognize them. More important, these people sense something of his connection to the Guide to Underworld (another name for Death...) and consider him an authority! While his command can be refused, no one will ignore it. A particularly nice example was a village to be ambushed by raiders, slaughtered and burned to ground. Convincing all to flee (from a danger he did not know), they escaped and survived. Sadly, after the villagers were saved, his power (very logically) failed, and he had to escape in turn, accused of working with those bandits.
   
   Note to personality: Dirius is certainly not charismatic, he is more an average uninteresting man. Being also unimportant for the most of his life, he has now a chance to kick the world to make it turn another way (or so he hopes). The touch of divinity may have some effects too. Emotions have calmed down, and the common "material needs" have lost their charm.
   
   
   Plot Hooks
   - Rumours speak of a demon crawling into towns, making people obssessed and letting them die later. It is said the creature is invincible.
   - "Did you hear that some madman called himself a priest of Death? Hah, what a nonsense some people invent to be interesting... "
   - If undead are available, why not use them to save the world? If an invading army is enough weakened by such encounters, it is easier to defeat! Now only get rid of the necromancers you have stolen all those undead.
   
   
   Note to the Future: If this "experiment" is successful, Death may use this solution to world problems at some point in the history again, or even choose to create a priesthood of her own. Other gods may not take this too friendly...
   
   
   Final Note: Definitively NPC. May be too overpowered in some ways, but may easily fall both into the "villain" and employer category for PCs. Needs some more developing.

2. Erriely compelling

   #2

   This gets two thumbs up and a tail. This is truely a good npc.
   
   A question, I have is why are you posting it here?
   
   
   Those comments aside, I could see a variety of uses for this character.
   One condition, you need to introduce this character to the players early on in their adventures. It does not have to be as "The Hand Of Death". They should get to know this mildly adventurous guy in a less dramatic setting.
   
   The reason why you should do this is to maximize his impact when he is used as the HoD. Make sure that his use is splashy and that he gets involved to save lives.
   
   Once the characters do have an inkling of what he is, he can show up when ever you need him. The best use, if you have blood thirsty players, is when they PCs are going to go in "swords slicing" and kill a whole bunch of people/ beings, when they don't have to. But other uses are when the players are not thinking of the consequence of their actions, and those actions might lead to war, slaughter, or at least excursions against the countries.
   
   If the HoD came up to you and said, "ummm, guys. Could you find another way. Maybe a way that won't result in so many deaths. It might be angry if you don't.
   
   If the players continue on with their plan and the deaths results, you can have a PC/NPC return (as a ghost/ goul/ intelligent zombie) and chastize them. (In fact the PC now has this zombie character who has one mission, to minimize the deaths that the PC... he can't roll up another one until if completes it).
   
   if they continue on, they might find they can not resurrect their dead. (After all, Death has a special fate waiting for them), or they won't die, but get to feel all the pain (taking negative modifiers to all actions) or maybe the shroud of death is around them and animals fear them, humans get the wiggies, and nobody wants to be near them.
   
   Dirius could come by and ask them not to do things (or to do them different). The PCs have the choice to do what they want, but the consequences can make those choices not worth it.

3. Priest of Death

   #3

   As to the why here, it is because I do not consider the idea yet complete. I think there is something missing, though I cannot put my finger on where... we shall see. If nothing sparks my imagination, I'll post it as a character (your worthy comments will be welcome even then). Plus it may grow into a bigger idea of the Setting-kind, and forums seem to be the better place to handle this.
   
   
   Some may ask as for what is the real purpose of this phenomenon. The fun thing is, it is not completely clear even to him. Ever asked Death for better answers? Maybe it is to make Death understand those mortals...
   
   Another question is what will other priesthoods do, if/when they find out? Mortals with connection to a deity are often fast to identify others. Could this be a breach of the balance, that must be stopped at all cost? Or is he to be helped, because he is on a mission to do Good (or Evil from the right point of view).
   
   Note that there is no clear agenda yet for this priest, nor for a possible future priesthood, besides that one goal. A very smart being may try to influence him carefully, and it may be in fact another kind of plot hook for a priest of some existing religion.

4. Priest of Death

   #4

   Well, Moonhunter put out a call to revive old threads, so here's an attempt.
   
   Roegoth, God of Death.
   
   
   When the world of Terescence was created, one of the gods born from the massive burst of energy was Roegoth. Viewed as a butcher or silent killer, he is anything but, as his actual followers come to understand. Roegoth is actually quiet, spending his time watching the hourglasses of people's lives run down in his black and white monolith where he makes his home in the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus(essentially the plane of Order). Far from the cruel murderer the common folk think of, Roegoth embodies the essence of Death, the transfer of the soul from its mortal body to its destination in the afterlife. Roegoth's purpose is to end suffering lives in an effort to balance out the souls inhabiting mortal bodies in the material realm and the souls awaiting reincarnation in a new form. Without Death to regulate this balance, too many living souls would disrupt the natural order and throw the multiverse out of balance. He is seen as the Reaper, the black cloak concealing a white skeleton, carrying a scythe and this is what he truly looks like. However, contrary to popular belief, Roegoth does not kill people with his scythe, he is there in the moment of their death to escort the soul to its destination and protect it from demon-lords or other beings who would attempt to capture ot and defile it. The scythe is symbolic of the seperation of the soul from the body.
   There is, on Terescence, an order of monks and aesthetics who worship Roegoth and try to assist him. They consider it a privilage to kill evildoers, and by doing so, send living souls to the afterlife. They kill only those who they deem deserving of it, though they are seen as murderers anyway.

5. Re: Priest of Death

   #5

   A good one.

6. Re: Priest of Death

   #6

   Already posted even.

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