Overshepherd Rom

The Distant Voice, Duskscape Regent of Death's Sanctity

"There are some who believe it a being of judgement, one who gazes on your mortal life and, based on what it sees, chooses your immortal destiny. They couldn't be further from the truth. Do shepherds choose favourite sheep? Have they any investment in their flock's "fate", aside from its continued well-being?"

— Owain of Kintyre
Correspondences

Duskscape Regent of Death's Sanctity, steward of wayward and undead souls, godhead of the Honoured Dead, host of the Pale Vigil, Overshepherd Rom is a mysterious entity that is allegedly the leader or command core of the Twelve Valkyries of Hesperion. They are collectively known as the Ascendancy of Rom.

There is much unresolved debate about the nature and origin of the Death God: are they a rogue Demon Lord? A being from beyond even The Duskscape, from whatever unknowable place deceased souls travel to? There is debate, even, about whether they exist at all; some schools believe Rom is merely a personification of the Valkyries' collective unconscious.

What is known is that Rom and the Valkyries are bitter enemies of those who enslave or otherwise interfere with the journeying souls of the dead. This is particularly true of The Dust King and the demonic hive-metropolis of Dis, who are especially infamous abstaining from The Old Accords which establish sovereign rights for lost souls. The Death God's paladins & clerics are bitter enemies of Material necromancers.

Rom is thought to have a pocket realm, often named Hesperion or the Grey Peaks. It's said to appear as an endless range of pointed, light grey mountains beneath a sky of eerily shifting colours, like Material auroras. Among the mountain peaks are great temples and tombs dedicated to the greatest undead warriors of the Pale Vigil.

Rom's alignment is Lawful Neutral. Their valkyries' alignments range between Lawful Evil to Lawful Good, but are mostly Lawful Neutral.

The Valkyries of Rom

Organization | Oct 12, 2024

[LN, LG, LE] High Commanders of the Pale Vigil, Elite Agents of the Death God

Appearance & Heraldry

See also: Overshepherd Rom and the Pale Vigil Image Gallery (External)

Rom is almost never seen: encounters with them tend to be dreams, omens or other more vague impressions. Portrayals of them tend to be similar to the other valkyries, perhaps with more pairs of wings or a hood & cloak which contributes to their mysterious reputation.

Domains

Overshepherd Rom's primary Domain is Death. Their subdomains are Protection, Vigil, Void, Soul, Sorrow and Fate.

Favoured Weapon

The Death God's favoured weapon is the battle scythe. Their Relic scythe is known as Nirvana.

Worship

"We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”

— Prospero
The Tempest, William Shakespeare

Like their god, worshippers of Rom are protectors of our passed or otherwise lost souls and sworn enemies of those who corrupt the sanctity of death, whether they're Material necromancers or agents of demons who deal in soul slavery. These worshippers exist on both sides of the Veil.

On Waking Materia

In many Material cultures it is believed that the Material Gods can traverse the Veil to the Duskscape, and believe that their preferred gods, usually among the Pantheon of the People, protect their undead souls there. While Material Gods can traverse the Veil, doing so risks breaking a deeply ancient power balance, and as such they cannot in truth be protectors of passed souls, except in the most exceptional of circumstances.

Though these societies treat worship of the Duskscape Regents with apprehension and prejudice, worship of Overshepherd Rom is treated with more nuance in other societies, making them the most worshipped of the Cenobites. Rom's clerics and oracles ease the fear of death by reducing its mystery; a service that is, at least quietly, appreciated by most. Nonetheless, even in cultures where Rom's role is acknowledged, their church is strongly scrutinized and kept to a narrow, funerary role.

Though they are too rare to have a common name in the Third Age, The Death God's paladins were known as Seraphites in ancient New Rozsa and the Knights of the Gloaming in Second Age Nurin. Rom's mortal swords are, like their robed counterparts, a haunted and meditative people, sensitive to the deceased souls beyond the Veil. But where Rom's clergy bless the souls of the dead and dying, their paladins are ruthless and skilled slayers of those who enslave or defile those migrating souls. Material necromancers are wise not to attract the attention of a Death Knight of Rom.

The Noa-Aina-Koroa worship Overshepherd Rom as one of two primary deities. V'Shaat is called Mana Auha ("Mother Dawnschorus"), and is regarded as The People's protector on Waking Materia. Rom is called Onu Ahware ("Father Dusksdirge") and is worshipped as their protector in the Dream Time. Among the Koroans are perhaps the most feared of Rom's Death Knights: the Eshuma, who are Estrié sworn to protect their peoples from the depradations of other monsters. In this regard they bear strong similarities to Repentants of The Skull Knight. The Koroans are particularly aligned to a Valkyrie known as The Hunger.

In the Duskscape

I see the sign
I see the sign
I see the sign
Hey Lord, time draws nigh...

It is not uncommon for intelligent undead to decide to postpone their journey to the Twilight Eternities and fight on behalf of their kindred spirits, even if it means never seeing the mystery beyond the Known. These legions are sometimes known as the Pale Vigil. It is rare, but not uneard-of, for demons to join these ranks, and Seraphism is an acknowledged (though uncommon) belief in demonic cities like Epitaph, Sarkoldu'un-Imathratep and Orms-by-Gorr.