Thanariel
The Gatherer
Edicts: honor the sanctity of death, wear a dark veil or hood in public
Anathema: break the silence of a graveyard, end the life of a relative
Sacred Animal: Jackal
Sacred Colors: Black
Thanariel is a figure cloaked in superstition, regarded with unease even among his divine kin. Accounts of his appearance vary wildly, for it is said that each mortal perceives him differently in their final moments. Yet most describe a tall, hooded man with dark skin and kindly eyes, wrapped in a shroud as black as night. Some claim he is the eldest son of Ishara, the Crone, sprung from her lantern when she first lit the path for the dead. Others argue that all psychopomps are her children, but Thanariel alone was chosen as her Exarch. Whatever his origin, his charge is to walk the planes and collect his mother’s faithful when death calls them home.
Despite the grim nature of his role, Thanariel is no terror to the dying. Those who claim to have encountered him recount a presence more soothing than dreadful — yet his arrival is often mistaken for that of the Reaper, his brother in both semblance and station. Where his brother is feared as a devourer of souls, Thanariel is remembered as a patient escort, lingering long enough to grant mortals a final moment of peace. Some theologians whisper that the two brothers were once angels, one who forsook his wings to walk beside the dying, while the other burned his in order to feast on the dead with impunity — though such tales remain unproven.
Comments