Personality

Marwolaeth is calm, gentle, and soft spoken. He is pleasant towards visitors and the souls who come to live in Athanasios, though he is colder towards the criminals. Marwolaeth does not tolerate rudeness or violence towards the souls in his care, Ivailo, or his rabbit, Aglæca, and will have the guilty party expelled from Athanasios or, in the case of souls already there, have them repent for their misdeeds or punish them as if they had arrived as a criminal.

Description

Exceptionally tall, at 7'2”. He has a slender, gangly build with a tan complexion, and waist-length black hair with white streaks mixed in. His skeleton is visible on part of his face, forearm/hand, torso (front and back), and lower leg/foot, all on the right side. He can use magic to hide this and look more human, though he always looks exhausted either way with dark shadowing under his eye(s). His eye color is that of seraphinite, a deep green with silver striations throughout, though his right eye is usually only the socket.

He typically wears loose robes, usually open, though sometimes closed with a sash around his waist. He also wears below the knee breeches and is usually barefoot, though will sometimes wear knee length boots. The colors he wears are usually blacks and grays. He also has a permanent “collar” that the Creator put on him, it looks like a bone bat wing with gothic designs and follows the length of his neck with part of the design on his sternum.

When he transforms into a horse, he is similar to a Fresian in looks and stature, with more feathering on the legs. His coat is the same tan as his skin, his tail/mane match his hair, and his skeleton parts are still visible.

Background

Marwolaeth is the god of death and lives in Athanasios, the underworld. Athanasios is a reflection of Soisanahta, the world of the living. The only way to enter Athanasios is through death, or with Marwolaeth’s permission. When one dies, they can rejoin their loved ones in the spirit version of their previous home or, if they committed terrible crimes, can be sentenced to punishment. After arriving and meeting with Marwolaeth, the god will either lead the dead to their new home or curse them to spend their eternity as decor in his house (which looks like a mix of a gothic chapel and catacombs/ossuaries), per the Creator’s will.

Marwolaeth is one of the oldest of the gods and, therefore, is typically shown the utmost respect. He does not get involved in the other gods’ conflicts, except in the case of Nirav and his father. Though, he claims that the sword that slew the previous forest god, which is the only weapon of its kind that can kill a god, was just a friendly gift and that he is not responsible for how it was used. As the sword can only be used by him or Nirav, the other gods do not believe that story, though they would never admit such disbelief to Marwolaeth’s face.

He is good friends with Nirav and, surprisingly, Mano, the god of love. Mano gave Aglæca, a pastel purple rabbit with pink Siamese points and a white skeleton pattern on him, to Marwolaeth as a gift. His reasoning, “You need some color and love in your life.” Apprehensive at first, Marwolaeth has come to love the rabbit very much and takes comfort in his company. Aglæca follows him around everywhere and will take over leading souls when they find Marwolaeth too intimidating to be around.

When he is not taking care of the dead, Marwoleath spends his time in his room or library (two of the few places with none of the “decor”). If one of the other gods pay him a visit, they typically take tea in the library and discuss the goings on in the world, or play chess in the case of Nirav. These visits are rare, though, as only Marwolaeth and the dead can spend an extended period of time in Athanasios without special protection.

While all of the gods need sleep, Marwolaeth is unable to sleep well due to dreams of the deaths of souls soon to join him. Though these visions also plague him while he is awake, they are more vivid while he sleeps. Despite seeing the deaths before they happen, there is nothing that he can do to prevent them, and this fact weighs heavily on him (especially in the case of children). Marwolaeth can understand the possible necessity of the dreams, though he wishes that he did not have them as the person’s cause of death does not affect where they end up, it is their life choices that he must judge. Though, he wonders why it is only the most tragic deaths that he sees. In reality, the dreams are the Creator’s way of toying with him.