Nurean, the King of Bones (Noo-re-an)

"We Nureans are just as scared of dying as anyone else, really. But we know that at the end of all the pain that comes with it, is a place where we can truly be at peace. With a King who will shepherd our souls." ~ Taliyah Greyspine, Nurean High Priestess.   A face of bleached white bone and cloaked in a black mist, Nurean sits on his throne inside the Black Halls of the City of Wails deep in the Shadowfell. The King of Bones presides over all aspects of death. From the moment of death, to the soul's departure for the city, Nurean will guide the departed to their eternal rest. Nurean believes that death is just another part of life. That avoiding death at any cost is to be scorned and punished without mercy. As a result of this, Nurean holds no warmth for necromancers, Liches, and those who actively seek eternal life. Nurean's clerics clarify further that common resurrection magics are not held in ill-regard. As such things are, after all, only temporary stoppers to death's march and the King of Bones' claim on the soul is not restricted.   According to Nurean teachings upon one's death, their mortal soul is greeted by a being known only as the Shepherd. A creature cloaked in the same black mist as Nurean itself, the Shepherd holds only a lantern of green glowing Soul Flame and safeguards the mortal soul on its journey through the Shadowfell and into the City of Wails where it might know peace. It is within the city that souls can rest for a time, before being called before the King of Bones for a judgement called the Culling. During the Culling, Nurean will call upon Kirana, Ireleth, and Galatea to decide where every individual soul shall reside. Should Kirana take the soul into the High Heavens, they are welcomed and blessed with Kirana's light. Becoming one of her Sol and a protector of the High Heavens. Should Ireleth take favor with the soul, She takes them from the City and into the Eternal Battlefield to dine with the heroes of eld. Galatea however, only visits during these times if resurrection magic was cast of the body of the soul. She will retrieve the soul and return it to the Material Plane should a sufficiently powerful cleric beseech Her.   Regardless of who takes the soul, or if Nurean keeps them in peace in the City of Wails. Any visit from the goddesses leaves a lasting impact on the Death God as their wild displays of power break up the silent pace of Nurean's afterlife. It is particularly fond of the moments when Galatea graces the Bone King with her light and her warmth. Some Galatean clerics believe that Nurean loves Galatea and her visits bring it joy. So much so that Nurean does not charge a toll for Galatea's visitations. Where Kirana and Ireleth must expend significant power to enter the Black Halls of Nurean's throne room. Galatea may come and go as she pleases, without such taxation on her power. Clerics of Nurean however, state that the Life Goddess is able to pass freely through the Black Halls due to her intimate relation with the mortal soul. Not some foolish notion of love among divine beings.   As a result of Nurean's hatred of undeath, many hunters of undead creatures often find themselves within the Courtyard of Bones. Nurean's temple beneath the Opal Cemetery in Aeranas. It is here in the temple that clerics of the Death God bless weapons, armor, and other tools before the hunters leave on their assignments. Early on in the First Age, these undead hunters were scattered, untrained, and often went missing. It wasn't until shortly after the Planar Confluence that Taliyah Greyspine, a newly appointed High Priestess of Nurean along side Morgiana Ebonlocke, founded the Black Sentinel Order as a means to combat a growing tide of necromancy. The Sentinels specialized in the hunting and exorcising of undead threats to Vanigraad and still have agents throughout the continent to this day.