Exarchs
The Necropolis, Land of the Dead, is ruled by the gods of death known as Exarchs. It is their responsibility to facilitate the arrival of souls to their domain, offer them a fair judgement of their actions in life, and to take them to their ultimate destiny based on the verdict of the judge of the dead, Exarch Lanua. To keep balance amongst the planes, the Exarchs maintain a firm stance of neutrality and refuse to aid in any planar battles between the gods. Many of the other pantheons try to maintain a steady and helpful relationship with the Exarchs, some even allowing the Exarchs to do whatever they please out of fear of the consequences of angering the gods of death.
Many Phoenixians hold a deep fear of death and are clamoring to purchase their means of immortality in hopes that they never see the vision of a psychopomp waiting with an open palm. As such, it is rather rare to find worshipers of the Exarchs on Phoenix. The rare few that practice the exarchic faiths typically build their temples alongside graveyards and offer their services through performing burial rites, guarding the dead in cemeteries, working as undertakers or grave diggers, or conducting autopsies. They often hold the belief that death is simply just another stage of life.
Structure
Each exarch has a very specific role that they play within the Necropolis to ensure that the realm of the dead runs smoothly.
The most critical role is Exarch Lanua's. She serves as the judge of the dead and ruler of the exarchic pantheon. Serving as her right hand is Exarch Itanon, who takes the form of the Hall of Final Judgement itself and is tasked with guarding the Necropolis from unwanted guests. Her left hand is Exarch Estix, commander of the Psychopomps and their ushers.
There are several deities that guard the souls that remain in the Necropolis after their judgement. They are Exarchs Azgur, Draal, Faolan, Nadalia, and Nuan Mei. Souls that are destined for reincarnation are given to Exarch Abhran. Souls that are destined for utter destruction are given to Exarch Moxhal to be devoured.
Exarch Ensi serves as the head librarian of the Oblivion Archive and catalogs all knowledge that has ever been lost or forgotten.
Finally, two gods serve as reminders to mortals of the end of their lives. Exarch Pae Gul Ja whittles away at the lifespans of all things from the mortals that walk the material plane to the mightiest of mountains. Exarch Valdr represents the process of grief, offering comfort to those who miss their loved ones and struggle with moving on and a reminds the living of the things they have lost.
History
When the Thousand Year Flood came, and the champions of order and chaos fought one another, the gods of death were powerful allies and weapons with the ability to snuff the light out of their fellow deities in an instant. Their actions in the Thousand Year Flood led to the eradication of multiple pantheons, their histories, and even their home planes. These ceaseless battles threatened to unravel the planes and destroy the balance between them. This prompted Exarch Lanua, who hadn’t taken any sides in the war, to act and she demanded an immediate ceasefire on all sides as further fighting could spell the end of everything.
Chief Overseer Rovius and Ezzoal agreed to a ceasefire and terms were drafted to end the war. Lanua then reached out to each of the remaining death gods and asked them to unite and form their own pantheon rather than ally themselves with the other new pantheons or simply stand alone. She reasoned that this could minimize damage if another planar war were to break out since the gods of death would be on their own side, therefore, they could remain neutral rather than add to the destruction.
Each of the remaining death gods agreed to this proposal and they merged their realms together to form the Necropolis.
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