Talorn

TALORN
Power: LG
Alignment: LE
Pantheons: The Ronan Pantheon; The Parthan Pantheon, The Kamoran Pantheon
Titles: Keeper of the Dead, Lord of the Netherworld, Master of Necromancy, Lord of the Undead
Portfolio: The Dead, Undeath, Necromancy
Symbol: A vampiric child's skull, with no lower jaw and green glowing eyes.
Constellation: In the stars Talorn is represented by the horizonal constellation that is a circle of stars vaguely forming a skull and two green stars forming its eyes.
Description: Talorn is the infamous and mysterious lord of the Netherworld and keeper of the dead. Where Hedeara is death, Talorn holds the dominion over those already dead, standing watch over the gate between the mortal world and the eternal realms. Those who worship a faith in which he is revered will find their souls under his judging eyes upon death. Talorn sends each soul to its appropriate afterlife. Sometimes, though, a a soul does not wish to pass on, and it is then that his mastery of necromancy grants him great power. He may offer such a soul the power of unlife, using his necromantic power to bind the soul to a mortal form or even allow it to wander back to the mortal realm through the Aetheria, becoming a ghost, specter or other such spirit.
Appearance: Talorn usually appears as a white human skeleton in a black robe with the hood drawn up and emerald green eyes shining within. He bears a dark wooden staff with a small vampiric child's skull set atop it, an emerald in each eye socket. Sometimes he appears as a gaunt man with white skin, pale eyes, and white hair, dressed the same. He is usually found in his tower, a tall narrow stone structure located in the middle of Valtodis (the bracken swamp of lost souls), at the center of Necropis in the heart of the Ashen Fields (aka Skieris).
Personality:
History/Relationships:
Thousands of years ago, the Kamoran deity Horaptuh, discovered the secret to control the spirits and energies of the dead. He became master of necroptic forces and eventually lord of the netherworld. He learned the secret of immortality in defiance of Hedeara, but it was more horrific than he could have conceived. Horaptuh realized the the power to animate the dead, and even keep the soul trapped within the lifeless mortal form, was too great for mortals to wield, and so he held the secret close, teaching only one, Talorn, his son by a mortal woman. His power was desired by many, though, and always were mortals trying to divine its secrets. Talorn saw how great this power was, how coveted, and saw power in sharing it with those who would do his bidding. To this end he betrayed his own father. Talorn tricked Horaptuh and transformed him into a horribly monstrous mume, binding his soul to a lifeless mortal form for all eternity. Thereafter Talorn assumed domain over the power of undeath. Talorn then began to share his secrets with those who would serve him, and he holds the key to the gates of the Netherworld, being the conduit for its power into the Mortal World. Thus are created the Undead.
All despise Talorn, but he has a place in the pantheons he serves. Talorn is guardian over the dead, keeping them in their place. He bars the way for souls to escape the eternal realms and return to the mortal world. Only a deity of life may bring the dead back to full life. Talorn is devious, though, and uses the laws these gods create to his own end. In this way he has found the means to bring the dead back through undeath and even allows souls to wander back to the mortal world as spirits, ghosts and specters before ever reaching him. He often places the secrets of undeath in places where mortals seeking eternal life could find them, and in this way they never die but end up in his service.
Talorn's one true foe is Gamorgh, the orc god of undeath, for they both vie for control of the same great power and so long as the other exists no one can be its true master.
Powers:
Talorn has Dominion over the Netherworld, giving him mastery of Necromancy. He can call upon any necromantic power and unleash it at its greatest potential. He may send forth necromantic energies to reanimate corpses by the thousands, which does not include the actual souls of the dead.
Talorn has mastery of Undeath and dominion over the souls of the dead. As such he has the power to return the souls of the dead to the mortal world in the form of undead. Talorn can create any form of undead being, weak or powerful. The more powerful the more independent the undead, and as such the less control he has over them. However, some souls will only be tempted but such great power. Other times Talorn tempts the living to give up their future death in exchange for entering a state of undeath immediately. Such beings never experience what death truly is and as such may never know what they have lost.
Children:
Talorn has no living child, but all of the undead are at his command.
After life:
The souls of those who worship the pantheons in which Talorn has power walk "The Path of The Dead". They enter the Aetheria and are inexplicably drawn towards the Ashen Plains. From there they wander through endless plains always drawn towards the city at its heart. If they resist this call, perhaps because they want to return to the mortal realm and refuse to admit they are dead, they can wander back to the Aetheria and from there wander until they hopefully return to the mortal world as a specter. Necropis isn't truly a city, but rather a vast ring ruins from all cultures, present and past. Here reside the souls of those who bound spirits who had their undead form destroyed on the mortal realm. They can never enter the eternal realms and are trapped here for eternity (except in some special cases). The souls must pass through the city of the undead and wander to its heart where lies a bracken swamp and must travel to the heart of this swamp. This swamp holds the exercised spirits of the undead. An exercised ghost, spirit or specter is forever trapped in these bracken waters. Sometimes they manage to reach out to the mortal world, appearing as ghost lights wandering the swamps. These accursed spirits sometimes attempt to mislead the souls of the dead, hoping to trade places with them and escape their eternal curse. Those who get lost in the bracken swamps stop feeling drawn towards the tower and often wander the mires for all eternity. Most souls, though, reach the tower at the center and enter its darkened archway. Within the tower they climb a tall dark stair well until they reach a barely lit round room, with doors spread across the walls. Most have light shining brilliantly behind them. Here sits Talorn, behind a desk with many scrolls, tablets, books and other such documents. These are the writings of Isati and Hedeara, dictating the fate and destiny of mortals. Talorn is supposed to refer to these writings to know if the person should be dead. If they aren't, he is supposed to give them a choice, to pass through the door they are intended to enter or return back to the mortal world. These are "Death's Doors". Up until this point the soul is still in some ways bound to the body. Upon entering Death's Door this tie is severed, and only a resurrection or raise dead spell can bring the dead back. Those who pass through their doors enter the eternal realms and begin their after life. Those souls who choose to go back will wander the mortal world as a ghost until their mortal form is reformed or revived, or they are somehow otherwise rebound to a form. They will often try to seek out those who they knew in life, trying to contact them, or to those who did them wrong, haunting them. These souls are often confused and have trouble expressing what they desire to the living. This is the path intended for the souls of the dead, but sometimes Talorn finds ways to coerce the dead to become his undead servants. Though this is never what was intended, his agreements with the other gods have allowed him the right to make such pacts.

Servitors:

Worshipers: (short group names) description of worshipers
Worshipers: When prayed to, Talorn may grant these powers.
1/Round Ability: Touch of Fatigue or Disrupt Undead (must select when first chooses to worship Talorn and may not later change).
1/Day Ability: Deathwatch

Priests:
Spell Domains: Decay, Destruction, Evil, Protection, Repose, Souls, Undead,
Favored Weapons: Staff, Mace
Cleric Alignments: Lawful (usually LN or LE, rarely LG)
Dogma:
Clergy and Temples:
Most of Talorn's worshipers are Necromancers, but there is a clerical order that worships him exclusively. These are the Grave Guardians; a monastic order of men who devote their existence to tending the graves of the dead and keeping them from rising again as the undead. It may seem an opposing position, but the fact is that Talorn may be the master of undeath but there are many necromancers who would use their arcane powers to circumvent his divine rights. As such, the graveyards must be guarded. Grave Guardians are a mysterious and quiet order that goes mostly unseen and unthought of on a daily basis, but are often greatly important to the large communities and cities. Grave Guardians are always men, shave their heads and bodies of hair, wear black robes, and stay in their catacombs and mortuaries during the day. They often have strange colored stains on their fingers, from working with embalming fluids. They claim these fluids make a corpse unable to be affected by necromantic powers. They only emerge at night to tend the graveyards, out of the sight of decent good people, or to attend chores and retrieve corpses. They are only seen in large numbers at times of mass death, such as in famines and plagues and more than once they have been accused of being the source of such horrors as they seem to be so prepared for it when it happens. Yet, it is not their way to cause death. Grave Guardians are not a warriorly lot, though they often carry long thin maces they call death-rods. They use these to prod the dead and make sure they are truly dead, and also say that when the occasional corpse rises the maces are better than swords for putting them down.
There are others who worship Talorn, but no other formal orders.

Notes:

Links:
The Gods

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