Charon

Description

Charon is the lord of Tartarus: The Sea of Souls and he rules from The Everlight, a lighthouse of stark white stone that looks over the entire Sea of Souls and the light of which burns with a Black Flame. He keeps The Everlight lit, repairs the boats of his Ferrymen, and works doggedly without cease to ensure that all dead souls of Orentia eventually find peace.  

Appearance

Charon is a giant, gaunt man with sallow light blue leathery skin and black eyes that shine coldly in their deep, sunken sockets. He is several stories tall, has a ragged beard that matches his long, thin, grey hair, and posesses four gangly arms. His hands are calloused and his feet are dirty. He wears the sparse clothes of a poor workman and though he has a magical raincoat it only leaves its hook when Charon must personally leave the confines of The Everlight.  

Personality

Charon is calm, patient, and serious. He wears a dour expression almost exclusively and speaks in a tired, cold, detached tone. Charon sees himsef as uninvolved in the affairs of men and gods, and is concerned primarily with his duty to keep The Everlight and maintain Tartarus. He treats all souls of the dead with an even hand, regardless of their deeds in life, for under The Everlight's watch there is no judgement, only a straightforwards and reliable end. He treats any obstruction of the natural order of life and death quite seriously, especially when souls are stolen from The Sea of Souls and are returned to other planes. He rarely leaves the walls of The Everlight, and has never left the rock upon which it sits in recorded history. When problems afflicting the Sea of Souls arise, such as souls being stolen from its waters or the spirits of the dead being trapped in another plane, he calls upon his Clerics. For major disturbances such as the birth of a Lich or a demon attempting to drink from the Sea of Souls, he sends his angels, the Ferrymen. He cares deeply for the sanctity of the dead - though he may not show it, and secretly admires the empathy and emotional intelligence of his Ferrymen. His devotion to his duty and lack of care for the affairs of gods and men have gained him a reputation as fair and unbiased among the gods, and they frequently seek him out for small favors or to resolve conflicts.  

Worship

Worship of Charon becomes more common the closer one comes to death in its many forms. In many cultures, a dead man's last rites include a prayer to Charon for safe passage to the Sea of Souls. Shrines and monuments to Charon are ubiquitous in gravyeards, shipyards, hospitals, and sick bays. It is common for those elderly, wounded, and terminally ill to be prayed for or pray to Charon for a smooth transition into death. Because Charon acts as a carpenter and shipwright for divine beings of all kinds, it is also common for him to be worshipped by craftsmen, shipbuilders and those whose build sailing vessels. After all, for any who die at sea - their ship is also their coffin. He is seen as a neutral arbiter, and prayers are frequently said in his name to bring about the end of arguments and feuds. The vestments of his clerics are typically dark, simple clothes of grey or blue. They tend to preach fairness, humility, hard work, and empathy and generally eschew unnecessary displays of wealth.  

Servants

Charon maintains a staff of angels called Ferrymen. These angels are particularly empathetic souls of the dead, called upon to serve and protect their fellows. Charon grants them a fragment of his divine power, a ship, and a lantern containing The Everlight's black flame. The Ferrymen are charged with protecting Tartarus and the souls within, helping troubled souls to resolve their unfinished business and dissolve into the Sea of Souls itself, and punishing those who would violate the sanctity of the dead in other planes. The Ferrymen are never without their lantern, and wear the practical and humble clothes of a sailor. While they have no wings or extraordinary abilities, their boat can magically bear them to wherever they need to be, and the black flame in their lantern offers a direct link to Charon's divine power for the conjuration of magic.