Mythology Monday: Dagor, God of Death
NAME: Dagor, God of Death
Other Titles: Warden of Fall, He in Wrappings, the Thresher King
Alignment: LN
Weapon: Great Axe (Last Breath)
Major Domains: Death, The Dead, Autumn,
Minor Domains: Protecting the Dead, Spiders, Embalming, Rituals, Martyrs
Totem Animal: Spider
Holy Symbol: A white skull surrounded with black flames
Favored Appearances: Dagor, unlike many gods, has a three favored appearances. The first is by far his most preferred, that of an non-gendered gray being covered in scales, with bat wings and clawed hands and feet. Completely outside of any of the species on Kasan, Dagor chooses this form to show that death is not any one race or culture, but affects all of them. When he wishes to be known that his presence is near, he adopts this form to prevent any denial of his involvement.
When taking his male and female forms, he adopts the look of the race he is interacting with directly. Both forms, male and female, are middle aged but with long, gray hair tied back in a ponytail. His limbs and mind are strong, and he is generally loquacious when encountered. Though he is grim, there is no sign of depression or resignation. He simply does his job.
Warform: The warform of the god of Death is that of a spider made of stone and bones. His long, hairless legs are pure obsidian, ending in razor sharp tips, as are his mandibles, which drip a toxic poison. His body is made of polished marble and granite, run through with blue and black veins that seem to pulse with his every move. His eight eyes are all topaz, seeing deep into both the being in front of him and their souls history.
Personality: While Grim and determined, Dagor is a god who knows his position and domain. He is pragmatic, seeing things in their most direct light and trying to puzzle out their inner workings. He sees things as very black and white, acknowledging very few of life’s great puzzles as legitimate, instead viewing them as misguided methods of detracting from the truth. Dagor and his brother Taralin are the guardians of the proper ways of life and death in the world. Dagor seeks not to end life before its time, or to shed blood, and he does not rule over the land of the dead. Instead, he seeks to both enforce the rules of death and to protect those that are dead from tampering. Among his most hated enemies are the undead created by the Demon Queen or to extend life beyond its normal conclusion. There are some undead, guardians of sacred burials or shrines and even those returning after a life cut short who are tolerable in the eyes of Dagor. However, each are treated differently. In the first case, they are revered companions who have been chosen to be kept from the Iron Marches and guard the dead. In the second they are poor spirits who must be helped so that they can move on, and should not be wantonly destroyed.
Teachings: Chief among the tenants of Dagor is that death comes to all things. It is the cycle and expectation that every living thing and every being on the planet must, at some time, die. To defy that primal structure is to defy the entirety of the cosmos. Dagor, and his priests, are the great enforcers of this system, working with the priests of Life to ensure that the cycle continues forever. He also teaches that the dead must be protected and properly interred, however they came to rest. Often it is his priests that wander the battlefield afterward, seeing to the dead, ensuring their consecration and preventing their Resurrection to serve the Demon Queen.
Finally, he teaches that at the end of the day, there is no greater honor than to die in service to your cause. Death comes to all of us, why not make it mean something.
Abode: Dagor lives in the Citadel of Rest, where he presides over the incoming souls of the fallen on Kasan and assigns them their place in the Iron Marches. He knows each soul, who’s claimed it, and where they can best serve their master. Though he is often a front line fighter in the war, his Citadel, being so vital to the continued war effort, is among the farthest back in the Paltonarchs lands.
Clergy: Dagors clergy, known as Keepers, are one of the largest and most revered institutions in the entire world. They provide burial services, keep the graveyards and crematoriums, and all the while make sure that the dead stay dead. They have churches in nearly every town and every locale that almost any sentient race abides. They are, by almost every law and unspoken accord, treated as non-combatants after a battle and are allowed to work unmolested.
Knightly Orders: The Sepulcher Knights are staunch order of Dagors clergy. They consist of three branches, the Gray Slayers, the Revokers and the Silencers, formed by a coalition of brothers who each had their own method of slaying undead. The Gray Slayers are master huntsmen and trackers, well versed in the many forms of undead, their habits and their lairs. The Revokers are holy warriors, blessed by Dagor to exterminate the most foul of undead with strength of arms and the force of might. The Silencers are devout wizards and priests who have studied the vast ways to exterminate the vile spellcasting and cursed undead, while also being well versed in how to protect their compatriots from the great harm they can cause. The Seplucher Knights often form Triumvirates of close knit brothers in arms that seek out and destroy undead, using the Silencers knowledge, the Revokers strength of arms and the Slayers wiles.
Clerical Attire/colors: The Attire of the clergy of Dagor is simple grey robes with a black leather belt. When performing the functions of their priesthood, they also wear an ivory skull-mask. Their attire is simple and unadorned. The Sepulcher Knights, however, wear a deep gray for the Slayers, brilliant white for the Silencers and flat black for the Revokers. While they may not always wear that attire completely, they always have a token of their respective sect. Oftentimes the Revokers are the most ostentatious and the Silencers the least.
Followers: Dagor has many followers, though those among the warrior and rogue professions tend to gravitate to him more often. Elves and dwarves, for different reasons tend also to respect and worship Dagor: Elves for the end that he represents to all and dwarves for the stoic devotion he shows toward his assigned task.
