True Name: Dreous.
Persona Name: Dreous.
Other Personas: –
Creator God of Death, Beasts, and the Afterlife.
Excerpt: ‘When the first souls perished, Dreous welcomed them into his hall. When their children wept, he granted the souls of the dead one day every year to comfort those who still remember them.’ Holiday Histories by Na’Tally
Known across the plane as Dreous, The Lord of the Pits, The Keeper of the Cistern, King of Viwrath, The All-Beast, The Lord of Decay, The Jackal, The Thousand Faced, and The Soulkeeper.
Holy Book: The Buch der Kronen, The Book of Crowns, The Tosk og Hal, Gambri nuk Kunn, The Immortal Scriptures, The Book of First Flame, and The Book of Scales.
The Leader of the Gods of the Dead and the Beast Gods.
Dreous’ holy symbol is the Dead Crown – A crown of blooming roses and bloodied thorns knitted together into a crown.
When active on Ithia, the planet Drei appears in the northeast of the sky as a large, mirror-black planet. If one looks at it deep enough, it is said one can see those they’ve lost in its reflection.
Dreous’ Divine realm includes Cistern, a sprawling cityscape where the souls of the dead dwell and seek to earn reincarnation. This is where Dreous’ palace is. Above Cistern is the paradise Viwrath for the most loyal and faithful of each God to dwell. Vigil is where Marlis dwells. Below Cistern is Wrecca, where the mortal souls of the damned, lacking the protection of a God, have committed great and terrible acts against others. It is possible for those who learn to feel true regret and seek inner redemption to rise to Cistern. Wrecca is home to Kaxis. Below Wrecca is the great Chasm, where the physical forms of the Seri’Ald who fought against the Fates are bound, diminishing their influence. Avernus watches over the Chasm and guards the prison there.
Dreous does not require trinkets and maintains no relics.
Dreous has many holy artifacts collected by mortals; many were lost with the collapse of various Dreite Tribes, and many were destroyed by Mealites fanatics. What has survived includes the five Staves of the Pale Priestesses, the Veil of the Concubine, and the Stone of Tongues.
Dreous views poppies, ranunculus, all animals and beasts, but especially the jackal, as sacred.
Dreous’ form changes based on the culture and species of those who view it. It is a great, hulking, shadowy silhouette with gleaming red eyes. Every beast and animal important to the viewer is expressed in some way; save for those surrendered to other gods, such as horses, domesticated animals, birds, and aquatic animals. When among his fellow gods, he takes the form of a large, muscular humanoid of shadow, smoke, and eyes like burning coal with the head of a jackal.
Dreous is patient and cunning, respectful to those who give it in turn. He never forgets trespasses against him. He rules over Viwrath, controlling the souls of the dead as they work towards reincarnation. Dreous is wise and powerful, standing as the leader of the four gods of the Dead. He is not often active, having worked through his mortal consorts, the albino jackal Dreite priestesses.
Dreous grants his divine servants blessings to protect the dead, both body and spirit, from necromancy. They can purify diseases from corpses, limiting their spread, calm spirits, disrupt magic that animates undead, Command Animals, and summon Sand Wraiths.
Dreous celebrates the Day of Remembrance, when the spirits of the dead, still remembered by the living, may visit their family and friends for final goodbyes and to offer advice. Worshippers celebrate on the last day of each month, seeing it pass on and be reborn into the next.
Dreous is worshipped by the Dreite, those worried about their afterlife, and those occupations that often intersect with death, such as soldiers, gravekeepers, and surgeons.
Dreous holds rites on tending to bodies, burials, cremations, and remembering those we’ve lost.
The act of sacrifice for Dreous involves the burning of honey, salt, garlic, and vinegar.
Dreous’ Values
Arches (Goals) – Dreous seeks that mortals choose not merely survival but to truly live with their short time on the mortal coil. He despises evil, pain, suffering, and those who cause it.
Pillars (Virtues) –
Death, Acceptance, Respect, and Sacrifice.
Columns (Vices) –
Regret, Denial, Sacrilege, and Greed
Dreous is worshipped in prayers for the dead, gatherings of old friends to mourn a loss, and families coming together to fill the hole someone left. He is every wracking, tearful moan, every silent, lonely sob of someone being strong in front of their children. He is all the ends that are not so final. Once, he was worshipped on towering, stepped pyramids, whose stone stairs were stained with blood from sacrifices. Now his people worship him in small temples and household shrines where carved figures of ancestors are lined on stone steps leading to an image of Dreous himself.
Dreous prefers to use mortal agents over avatars.
Dreous’ Coelestis are the Sand Wraiths.
Dreous has no demi-god species.
Dreous has the Dreite as his mortal species.
Dreous has a selection of high priestesses, all albino jackal Dreite known as the Pale Priestesses; the most renowned of which is Vilga.
The Blessed Pack of Dreous only allows Jackal Dreite into its upper ranks but allows felines and canines into its lower membership.
-The Pale Priestess: Mortal Concubine and Highest Priest of Dreous.
-Speaker: High Clergy of Dreous.
-Mourner: Clergy of Dreous.
-Shadow: Acolytes of Dreous’ Clergy.
-Flock: Children gifted to the Clergy to raise in isolation towards Dreous’ glory.
Dreous vestments are not normally formalized, but Speakers wear black often decorated with the bones of their ancestors, teachers, and predecessors. The Pale Priestess covers her dead eyes and bears a pale white two-pronged staff.
Dreous has no surviving holy orders.
Dreous has no parents and has been a mate to Zale. They have two children, Basky and Milisam.
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