Ah'Shal
The Gatekeeper, Matron of Decay
Donning simple gray robes, a man clutches a set of keys as he closes the eyes of the recently departed. Over the next few hours, he will tend to the dead with meticulous dedication, returning the body to the land and guiding the soul to the Gates of Ah'Shal. Hidden by black leathers, a woman hunts the lingering presence of undead – the lingering remnant of someone who foolishly sought to cheat death. A rat with glowing green eyes perches atop her shoulders on alert. Ah'Shal represents an important and inevitable point in all mortals' lives: Death. The Goddess of the Dead approaches this task with emotionless neutrality, taking the good and the wicked when their due time comes. Despite the necessity of her role, her association with darkness, death, and decay often result in her being labelled as an "evil" goddess. Yet it is Ah'Shal that sends souls to their after life, directing them to the appropriate Court. The Goddess of Death is often depicted as darkness made manifest, a shadow creature roughly bound to the shape of a woman, or as a tall, thin, pale tiefling with green eyes.
Acolytes of the Dead
Many worshippers of Ah'Shal are morticians who oversee the funeral rites of the dead, honor the body, and encourage lingering souls to seek the Gates of Ah'Shal. While many receive their training in the House of the Dead in Ah'Shal, they are often dispatched across the continent. While Ah'Shal may not be worshipped directly in all cities, her Acolytes can be found almost everywhere.Notable Acolytes: Oksha Ah'Shal and Thyron Ah'Shal.
Ah'Shal's Executioners
Before the Calendar was created, Ah'Shal's Executioners existed to exercise her will: destroy the undead. However, the undead plague has long since been almost entirely eradicated. For years, Ah'Shal's Executioners were nearly nonexistent. Now, those who wish to serve as her Executioners must prove skill in a form of combat and must uphold the Goddess' tenets with near perfection. They are an extension of Ah'Shal, tasked to enact her will by eradicating any lingering undead, apprehending those who cheat death, protecting Acolytes, and bringing lingering souls to the heart of Ah'Shal's domain. To aid them in their duty, the Goddess bestows upon her chosen Executioners a deathly companion, often taking the form of a spider, rat, or raven.Notable Executioners: Newt Von'Della (of the Deep End), Diavolo the Executioner, Angelos Dun'Mar, and Ah'Shivan (Destroyer of the Undead).
Divine Domains
Death, Grave, Twilight, death, darkness, souls, spirits, loss, decay, and the dead.
Artifacts
The grand hall leading to the entrance of Ah'Shal's original Temple, far beneath the City of Ah'Shal, is lined with statues of notable Acolytes on one side and Executioners on the other. Often, upon their death, Acolytes and Executioners offer their weapons, arcane focuses, and other items to the Temple – to those that might be worthy of following in their footsteps.
Dun'Mar Glaive – An ancestral weapon held by the Dun'Mar family of Lark'Hal, its final owner was an Executioner of Ah'Shal: Angelos Dun'Mar. Upon his passing, he gifted the Glaive to the Temple, where it was placed within the grasp of the statue in his likeness.
Blue-Scaled Greataxe – A massive axe lined with the scales of a blue dragon, suggesting its origin in the Blue Dragon Clan, perhaps even the Blue Maw. The vorpal Greataxe was once wielded by Diavolo, and given to the Temple upon his second and final death.
Divine Symbols & Sigils
The black onyx gemstone, scepter, keys, skull, urn, smoke, spider, rat, raven, hound with glowing green eyes
Tenets of Faith
The Cycle – Death is not the end, but merely the turning point in the never-ending Cycle of Life, Death, and New Life. Each death should be respected and honored, for each death provides the fuel and the spark for new life to emerge. As the Goddess of Death and Decay, Ah'Shal expects her followers to honor the Cycle, to honor the dead and the living, and to respect that death is inevitable – an embrace, albeit a cold one. Should one prove their respect for the Cycle, the Goddess may grant one the power to interfere with it, resetting the cycle when it has been wrongfully disrupted.
Guider of Souls – While the body may fade from the world for eternity, the soul or the spirit lives on. As the Goddess tasked with guarding these souls, Ah'Shal strives to guide all of them to their rightful home in the after life. It displeases her for ghosts and other spirits to linger in the mortal realm. All souls and spirits should be guided swiftly and quickly to the after life, to Ah'Shal's gates. Preventing a soul from reaching Ah'Shal is a heinous crime and followers of Ah'Shal should seek to reprimend any and all who do so.
Holidays
Emlekezes, a day to remember the dead.
Divine Classification
Spirit of the Land
Alignment
Lawful Neutral
Children
Pronouns
She/Her/Hers
Aligned Organization
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