EREBOS, God of the Dead

GOD OF DEATH AND THE UNDERWORLD

He is the lord of all that has ever lived. He presides over the bitterness, envy, and eventual acceptance of those who suffer misfortune. His hoarding of both souls and the treasures the dead carry into the Underworld see him worshiped by those who desire to collect and keep wealth.

Erebos's very presence is stifling, and those who come face to face with him often depart in despair. He is jealous and tyrannical within his realm, but unlike his brother Heliod, he neither blusters nor tries to expand his influence. He waits patiently, secure in the knowledge that everything belongs to him in the end.

Erebos most frequently appears as a slender, grayskinned humanoid with two large, outward-curving horns, wielding an impossibly long black whip. He also appears in the form of a black asp, a cloud of choking smoke, or an animated golden idol.

EREBOS'S INFLUENCE

Born from Heliod's shadow and then banished to the Underworld, Erebos claimed dominion over that desolate realm. He sees it as his duty and his right to ensure that those who enter his realm remain there for all time. Within the Underworld, only the relative paradise of Ilysia is sheltered from his influence. In the other four realms of the dead, his will is law.

Mortals typically fear death, yet death is the inevitable end of each one's time in the mortal world. Erebos, having long ago come to terms with his own banishment, teaches his followers to accept the inevitability of death and the often unavoidable tragedies of life.

Although Erebos forbids souls from leaving the Underworld, some escape his clutches. Generally such souls are beneath his notice, but he sometimes sends agents to retrieve those he has particular interest in.

EREBOS'S GOALS

Erebos wants above all to maintain his position of absolute authority over the realm of the dead. He lashes out at anyone who aids souls in escaping from him or otherwise tries to subvert the inevitability of death.

Erebos is patient, usually willing to wait for souls to come to him, but he does interfere in the mortal realm on occasion. When the other gods displease him, he sends mortal agents or Nyxborn monsters to kill the worshipers of the offending gods and spread despair.

Many of Erebos's schemes target those who escape his clutches. He regularly sends agents to retrieve the Returned soul or the wayward eidolon of a hero of great renown who has succeeded in returning to Theros. If any of the dead, renowned or otherwise, escape the Underworld fully intact-without identities erased-Erebos will spare nothing to make an example of the fugitive and any who provided assistance.

DIVINE RELATIONSHIPS

Erebos loathes Heliod, who banished him to the Underworld eons ago, forever severing him from the world of life and light. Erebos takes particular delight in profaning Heliod's temples, defiling the raiment of his priests, slaughtering his worshipers, and claiming the souls of his champions. Erebos believes that Heliod will one day challenge him for control of the Underworld. He looks forward to that day, certain that his lesser brother can't possibly prevail within Erebos's own territory.

Erebos holds a special grudge against Phenax. Phenax readily teaches others how to escape the Underworld as the Returned and even sneaks into the Underworld to assist them, earning him Erebos's undying ire.

Pharika and Karametra understand, better than many of the other gods, that life and death are closely intertwined. Pharika's tinctures can either extend a life or snuff it out, and Karametra's planters know that reaping follows sowing in turn. Although he appreciates what these gods have in common with him, Erebos occasionally feels the need to remind them that the dead are his, and other gods' acceptance of death's inevitability doesn't make them masters of it.

Erebos has no true allies but operates closely with Athreos and the Norn's. Athreos is one of the few beings Erebos trusts to be as committed as he is to ensuring that the passage into death is a one-way trip. The Norns, too, would see the dead remain dead, concerned as she is with the acceptance of destiny.

WORSHIPING EREBOS

To many mortals, Erebos is primarily concerned not with death, but with gold. Most of his followers downplay his association with death and misfortune, instead praying to him for material wealth. Others pray to him because they want to be more accepting of their misfortune. These individuals see themselves as beyond hope of improving their lot in life, asking only that Erebos grant them the strength to endure until they enter his realm at their predestined time.

A smaller but more dangerous group of Erebos worshipers are those who actively glorify death. These cultists and assassins congregate in secret in communities across Theros, engaging in campaigns of violence.

EREBOS'S FAVOR

As Erebos sees it, he already owns the soul of every living being. For him to bestow special favor or power on a mortal would be an act of generosity, and he expects to be compensated for it. Those who rise to the ranks of true champions of Erebos, though, embrace death and their inescapable destiny in the Underworld. Did you pledge yourself to Erebos by joining his priesthood, or did you come to find his favor through a prayer of quiet desperation?

MYTHS OF EREBOS

Erebos appears in many god-stories, often as a villain or a foil to the other gods. The stories told by his followers emphasize his power, the wealth of the Underworld, and the inevitability of death.

Menelaia's Song

Long ago, a master lyrist named Menelaia mourned her lover, Pero. She entered the Winter Nexus, a cave on the edge of Setessa that leads to the Underworld, and played a love song to lure Pero's soul back to the mortal world. When Erebos saw this, he became furious, and he extended his whip to draw both of the lovers back. But Menelaia was beloved of Nylea, and that god blocked Erebos's whip with vines. The two lovers lived long lives together. Erebos had the last word, however, tormenting both of the lovers in the Underworld. To this day, this turn of events plagues Nylea, who seeks a way to bring the lovers peace.

The Return of Daxos

Daxos of Meletis was a powerfu loracle who heard the voices of all the gods. Daxos tragically died at the hands of his lover, the champion of Heliod, Elspeth, through the duplicity of the satyr Xenagos. Daxos's soul passed into the Underworld, and Elspeth sought Erebos's help to travel into Nyx. After passing Erebos's test for admittance, Elspeth demanded an additional reward: she would trade her life for Daxos's. Erebos, always eager to claim a champion of the sun god, agreed. Elspeth died shortly after her triumph over Xenagos, whereupon Erebos kept his word-but in a treacherous fashion, allowing Daxos's body to go back to the mortal world as a Returned. Bereft of memories, he wanders aimlessly.

A Shadowed World

Heliod's followers maintain that their god gave rise to Erebos by casting a shadow in the sun's first light. Followers of Erebos say that this tale is self-refuting. Before there ever was a sun, the entire world stood in shadow, and the shadow was Erebos-elder to Heliod. Only with the first dawning was Erebos's form diminished enough that Hel iod could overpower him, and the god of the dead has never forgiven his upstart brother. The faithful of both Erebos and Heliod viciously argue the details of their gods' origins, some risking their lives in battle over which of their gods came into being first.

The Descent

The only major festival dedicated to Erebos, called the Katabasion or "the Descent," features a ceremony in which worshipers make a symbolic journey into the Underworld. The supplicants enter a cave, offer prayers and sacrifices to Erebos in utter darkness, and slowly make their way back to the surface just before sunrise.