Scarcon
The Pale Prince, The Reaper, The Grim Rider (a.k.a. King of the Shinigami (Rokehara), Scath Grimgrave (Dwarf), The Final Dance (Elves), The Silent Shadow (Halflings), Scaroth Skullgrin (Gnomes))
Divine Domains
Areas of Concern: Death, The Dead, The Underworld
Domains: Earth, Darkness, Death, Knowledge, Repose
Holy Books & Codes
The Scrolls of the Still Hand.
This ancient collection of scrolls dates back to the old kingdoms era and may be among the most important works regarding the faith's organisational roots. These Scrolls are a collection of stories, sayings, death records and local customs collected from across the old Ziberian Empire during the first successful attempt to religious reformation and organisation by the faith. The Scrolls themselves have been transcribed countless times and the original text is believed to be so worn with age that contact with human breath would damage them.
The Testaments of the Restless Dead.
This strange collection of three books were written by a repentant ghoul who took upon himself the practice of denying its base urges. These books offer strange but interesting insights into the nature of undeath, death and for some proof that Scarcons grace can even overcome a ghouls hunger. Many Undead and servants of Sindra consider these books an Anathema and work of a traitor as they also detail many weaknesses and methods of bringing true death to countless species of undead.
Morbid Masks Vol 1-20.
A book as popular with the faith as it is among healers, doctors and anatomical researchers, this twenty volume series is a detailed and alphabetical list of the ways in which a humanoid body can die. It contains diagrams, explanations for the function of various organs and bone structure and stomach churning accurate descriptions of dozens of ways that their failure and trauma can cause death. It is widely considered one of the best works of its kind in the world.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Favored Weapon: War Scythe
Symbol:A Skull wearing a crown upon a matte black and grey background
Sacred Animal(s): Black Dogs, Black Horses, Ravens, Crows
Sacred Color(s): White, Black, Shades of Grey
Tenets of Faith
Aphorisms
“All are Equal in Death”
“It is better to dig graves then watch someone starve”
“A reapers mercy is granted to all”
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Son of the custodian deities Sindra and Arcades, Scarcon was born not of love nor passion but of the manipulations of his father and mother. Sindra had wished for a child to bring misery and woe to mortals and Arcades thought that evil like all other things required order and codification felt a child with Sindra would bring structure to the nature of evil as its dark prince.
Scarcon proved to be the child neither god had wished for. As a child it is said he was pale and sickly yet beautiful after a fashion. As a child his parents were proud of his cunning and wit but also vexed by his intelligence and independence. Both Arcadies and Sindra attempted to sway Scarcon only to find the child asking far too many questions and far too contemplative to be swayed easily by either.
Growing progressively more annoyed at his parents' demands by the time Scarcon was a teenager he had found solitude or the company of beasts more honest than his own father and mother. It was during this time that he would befriend his beloved black hound Cerum and learn to speak to the carrion birds. As he grew closer to adulthood the pressure from his parents became more adamant both essentially demanding he become the prince of evil and bringing misery to mortals. Scarcon refused both father and mother and left them to determine his own fate. He and his faithful hound travelled the mortal world where the young Godling would encounter a magnificent horse that had sadly been drowned when it fell through an icy lake. Scarcon had never seen death and immediately felt a sense of remorse for the spirit of the steed, for in that age the spirits of the dead were restless things that had no home or shepherd.
Scarcon took the spirit horse named Shadow and it became his steed. With black hound and horse he continued to travel, finding the world to be full of lost and confused spirits. Feeling remorse for their suffering he would send his carrion birds out to find the dying and return to him with knowledge of their passing. At first it was only the spirits of animals that overly concerned him, but one cold winter his birds said they found a spirit not of a beast nor belonging to any god. Curious, Scarcon saddled Shadow and called Cerum to his side to investigate.
With a wave of his hand the snow and winds parted and revealed a human girl, dead due to starvation and exposure. Her body was abandoned by her tribe and her spirit in agony. Scarcon who had never cared for people uncharacteristically reached out his hand “There shall be no pain of the flesh, nor weariness of the body and hunger shall ache you no more if you take my hand” The frightened child reached out and touched Scarcons hand and immediately the pains and agony that haunted her spirit faded away.
Aeana The first lost mortal soul would become Scarcons adopted daughter he swore and yet swears she is and was the only mortal he truly cares about. Yet as time went on the cold hearted god would find other spirits who suffered and would take his hand. It soon became apparent to Scarcon (Though he would never admit it) that he had a weakness for lost souls and granted the gift of a merciful passing to the infirm and elderly mortals of every walk of life. He also had two problems now, his home was overflowing with spirits and souls and his carrion birds were unable to find every soul who needed him.
The key to solving his problem came when he set out to speak to Kyron the crafter God. Scarcon reluctantly told Kyron his problems and the forge god offered to fix it for a fair price. Scarcon would help guide Kyrons dead worshipers to his forge in exchange for the work. Scarcon, having little choice, agreed and was given a Black Lantern with a ghostly blue flame. Kyron said that the lantern would guide the spirits of the dead to him no matter how far away they were.
As more dead souls came to him Scarcon now found himself very busy aiding Kyron and his house becoming very cramped. This was until Aeana and his hounds discovered a realm where no god ruled, a vast realm connected to the realms of all other gods. A place where the dead who were lost found a way. Scarcon decided that Purgatory served his needs and thus travelled there and built a vast palace and city for the dead to call home. Soon other gods who required his services shepherding their dead followers came to him with deals and offerings, naming him the prince of the underworld. Ever a cunning god Scarcon made a deal with all the gods. He would guide and keep the dead of every deity ensuring they would be sent where they belonged but in return every god or goddess would respect his domain and name him the true prince of the underworld and the dead.
Many of the gods refused only to find their dead faithful being held in Purgatory and their power waning as proof of Scarcons power over the underworld. Soon no god or goddess denied his rightful place and even the angels, devils and demons alike would agree that the realm of the dead was a neutral ground at the cost of starving the souls if they disagreed with Scarcon. Thus did he protect his kingdom and the spirits of the dead from theft and abuse from rival gods and vile fiends alike. Kyron would award him a second gift from his forges, a scythe that would grant the peace of death to any mortal it struck or end the tormented existence of any undead creature it cut down.
Needing agents to properly commit to his new duty, Scarcon selected his most loyal of souls and transformed them into psychopomps to aid him. Aeana, his daughter, became the queen of these servants who aided him in ushering the dead into the underworld.
Thus does he rule as the pale prince of the underworld upon an Ivory Throne with an Ivory Crown. Friend of no one yet protector of all that die. Evil to all yet merciful to all neither his mother's weapon nor his father's tool.
Allies
Cerum the Black Hound Cerum is said to have been a runty deformed hellhound born with soot black fur and lacking in malice. Cast from hell as a pup to die, Scarcon found the puppy and took a liking to it. Being chosen as Scarcons Boon companion and guardian of his gates has caused Cerum to grow to prodigious size and power. His bite is blessed with the silver blue flames of the underworld and he can track any being with a soul or that has ever had a soul flawlessly.
Shadow the Steed of Death No horse is faster than death's own steed, it is said it can travel the width of the world faster than the eye can blink. It appears as a majestic black horse with haunting blue flames for eyes and shrouding its hooves. Its saddle, tack and harness are magnificent but should anyone not be permitted to ride this steed by its master they are sure to die.
Aaena Queen of the Psychopomps The Daughter of the Reaper, mistress of the ushers of the dead. Aaena though having died as a child was granted the gift of being permitted to grow up even though dead. She appears as a beautiful maiden, pale, and soft spoken wearing a dress that is something of a hybrid between a wedding gown and funeral attire, her face forever hidden behind a veil. Should Scarcon ever somehow die himself they claim she will become the new lord of the underworld.
Maetan the Forsaken Scarcon often has a strange relationship with the undead. They are his mother's creations and many steal from him or escape his realm. Yet he and his clergy are renowned for making dead contracts where certain undead offer service to his faith in exchange for being exempt from retrieval. The most infamous is Maetan the Forsaken, long ago Maetan was a witch who lived and defied Scarcon on numerous occasions. Their conflict would come to an end when Maetan’s daughter would be sacrificed by a rival worshipper of his demon master Orcus upon an Altar. Maetan swallowed his pride and offered himself to Scarcon if the god of the dead would save his daughter's soul from the torment of Orcus. Scarcon, ever a god of his word, agreed in exchange that Maetan become his servant for eternity. Scarcon who had desired an excuse to rob souls from Orcus would retrieve Maetans daughters and the undead witch would become one of his most deadly avengers in the mortal world.
Church/Cult
Children
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