Athreos, The God of Passage
God of Passage
All mortals are destined to face Athreos, the River Guide, when their lives come to an end. The god of passage ferries the dead across the Tartyx River, conveying each mortal soul to its destiny in the Underworld. For most people, Athreos embodies the greatest mysteries of existence—the terror and wonder of life’s last moment and the revelation of one’s ultimate fate in the afterlife. Athreos is no judge, though. The veiled, silent god undergoes no deliberations and makes no exceptions. The River Guide reads the truth of each soul and bears it unfailingly to its proper place in the Underworld. There is no haggling and no sympathy on Athreos’s skiff, the god having heard and denied every conceivable mortal plea.
Athreos appears as a gaunt figure cloaked in ragged robes and a collection of golden masks. What little can be seen of his body is unsettling, its gray flesh stretched thin over a barely human skeleton. The River Guide is never without his ancient staff, Katabasis, which he transforms into the ferryboat he uses to ply the Rivers That Ring the World. Though the deity’s shrouded form gives no clue, many mortals consider Athreos to be male, but the River Guide cares for terms or labels no more than any other force of nature. Athreos can change shape but rarely, if ever, takes on other forms.
Athreos’s Champions
Alignment: Usually lawful, often evil
Suggested Classes: Cleric, monk, rogue, wizard
Suggested Cleric Domains: Death, Grave (described in Xanathar’s Guide to Everything)
Suggested Backgrounds: Hermit, sage, sailor, urchin
Most worshipers of Athreos believe death is a natural part of life, to be neither rushed toward nor run from. They seek to do their part in fulfilling the natural order, easing the passage of the living into death. Most also respect their ancestors and honor them through tradition, ritual, and memory.
God of Passage
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