ATHREOS, God of Passage

THE 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 Worlds. 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 INFLUENCE

Most mortals focus on the River Guide's role in their own deaths. Countless mortal superstitions prescribe ways to garner Athreos's favor, but all Athreos demands of those he transports is payment: a single coin of any minting or value. The River Guide has an expansive definition of what constitutes a coin, from actual stamped currency and jewelry to shiny beads or opalescent shells. Ultimately, he seems most concerned with whether a mortal has prepared for death, keeping payment ready out of respect and as a personal memento mori. Those whose bodies are burned, buried, or otherwise disposed of along with valuables deliberately intended for the River Guide discover that they can make use of such items when trading for Athreos's services. Spirits that reach the shores of the Tartyx River unprepared, though, risk being stranded, as Athreos refuses to ferry those who can't pay.

Athreos is also invoked as the god of passage, as well as the deity with dominion over borders, boundaries, and that which is "neither." Those who undertake journeys, especially dangerous ones, often drop a coin into a fountain or a body of water in apotropaic acknowledgment of the River Guide. Bridges and borders are also places where Athreos is commonly remembered, with many such sites being marked by motifs of rivers or spirits. Additionally, phenomena that are neither one thing nor another, defying simple classification, are often considered to be within Athreos's province-most notably the state between life and death, but also echoes, phantom sensations, and the feeling of deja vu.

ATHREOS'S GOALS

Athreos endlessly works to maintain the balance between Nyx, the Underworld, and the lands of the living. The River Guide sees himself as a servant of the mortal world and knows nothing of the glamor, honor, or mystery mortals often ascribe such to him. Rather, he does what must be done, and should some cosmological condition fall out of sorts, the River Guide and his servants work with silent efficiency to restore balance.

DIVINE RELATIONSHIPS

Athreos cares little for the dealings of the other gods. As long as other deities don't impinge on the border between life and death, either by overstepping their bounds or by trying to draw the dead back into life, the River Guide has little to do with them. More than once, this isolation has put Athreos in silent conflict with Heliod and Erebos, both of whom subtly resent Athreos for limiting how much each can meddle in the other's realm. At the same time, the River Guide's role as a buffer between the two vindictive gods actively prevents their grudges from exploding into divine warfare.

Njord bears a chilly respect for Athreos. In a time before reckoning, boundaries divided the god of the sea's dominion from the Tartyx River. Though the god of the sea quietly resents sharing even a drop of water, he considers the River Guide to be a quiet, unobtrusive trespasser on his favored element and keeps his distance. Were heisrespect to wane, though, Njord would eagerly vie to control the Rivers That Ring the Worlds.

WORSHIPING ATHREOS

Most funeral traditions include small offerings and words of reverence to Athreos. Predominant among these traditions is burying or burning the dead with a clay funerary mask, to "frame" the identity of the dead for Athreos, and with at least one coin, so a soul might pay Athreos to ferry them to the Underworld. Some people are laid to rest with large amounts of grave goods. Memorial practices vary widely by culture, from tearful, somber affairs to lively celebrations. These rituals serve more as catharsis for the living than as meaningful boons to Athreos, though. The River Guide cares only for the single coin he's owed by any who board his skiff.

As all mortals eventually bow before him, the River Guide doesn't seek worship. When mortal agents are necessary, though, Athreos often seeks the descendants of those who impressed him during their journey to the Underworld.

MYTHS OF ATHREOS

Athreos eternally performs a remarkable labor, ferrying mortal souls to the Underworld. During the River Guide's ages of toil, he has inspired a number of legends.

Death's Denier

Some legends tell of an ancient shade who has tarried at the banks of the Tartyx longer than any other-a woman, ancient beyond years and clad only in her own flowing hair and sagging skin, who some passing souls mistake for Athreos. This figure is Thenna, once an oracle of Midgard. Thenna refuses to pay Athreos's price, or to have it paid for her. For untold centuries, she has harassed the newly dead, learning an incredible amount about the mortal world in the process. The only thing she's less impressed with than the state of the modern world is Athreos, whom she curses like a bitter old friend whenever the River Guide draws near. If any mortal has ever truly known Athreos, it is her.

Eight Exceptions

Eight times in the course of history, Athreos has purposely allowed a mortal to delay their death or temporarily return from the Underworld. These individuals were restored as living beings (not as returned) to complete particular tasks. As a record of these exceptions, Athreos bears a Returned-like mask of each individual. Despite centuries between bargains, though, no one who Athreos has made an exception for has ever returned. As a result, the River Guide refuses to make another exception. He might be convinced to do otherwise were someone to bring one of the eight lost souls-such as Biaas the Poison Drinker, Dianyan Half-Heart, or Hundred-Damned Thasmudyan-before him for punishment.

The Athrean Obols

Some claim that Athreos doesn't collect coins out of greed but because he's looking for five specific treasures. Apocryphal writings in the Underworld library of Oneirrakthys say that Athreos was the first mortal to die. When he came to face the Vanir gods, he brought a single treasure as an offering to each of Vanaheim's five mightiest deities, hoping to receive a peaceful place a mong them in return.

The gods realized what Athreos's spirit represented: the first of an endless flood of mortal souls that would soon begin to join Athreos in death. Unwilling to spend eternity sorting the endless stream of dead mortals themselves, the other gods did give Athreos a place among them, as well as charging him with his impossible task. They also offered him a measure of hope. The gods cast Athreos's offerings back into the mortal world in the form of five coins. They promised Athreos that, once he collected the coins anew, the gods would free the River Guide from his service and welcome him into their ranks. Ever since, Athreos has labored, both at ferrying the dead and in search of his five lost coins, called the Athrean Obols. It's said that any who bring the River Guide one of the coins will be rewarded with a wish for anything Athreos can grant-even exception from death.

Necrologion

During the feast of the Necrologion, which takes place on the eighth month in the calendar of Idavoll, pious souls silently spend the day reading ancient memoirs or writing messages for their own descendants.