Church of Death

Social Group

Influence: 100

Base(s) of Operations: Cathedral to Death, Temple Mount (Jerusalem)

Allies: church of Gaia, Populist Party, the Hospitalers

Holdings: Unknown

Retainers: 165 thousand

Symbol: red cross inside a black triangle

Livery: black with a red cross for negativeenergy- wielding clerics and white for positiveenergy- wielding clerics. Other clergy choose one or the other depending on their nature.

"Bargains, bargains, El-Ahrairah. There is not a day or night when a mother doe does not offer her life for her kittens, or an honest captain of Owsla his life for his chief's. But there is no bargain. What is, is what must be." - The Black Rabbit of Inlé, DownWatership

In the world, there is no greater deity than death. She is the master of all that lives; they exist at her leisure. There are many schools of thought regarding the origins of this powerful ultra-being, but the most accepted theory tells of The Dark first emerging as a physical being during the Apocalypse. The Dark could not handle all the primordial energies, so it separated itself into pieces. Death was one of these pieces, and after a very short time, she betrayed the Dark, forever blocking him from stealing mortal souls and consuming them. The people of the world have never stopped thanking her.

Within the cities, the white-robed clergy of Death work very hard to keep the population healthy and strong. The black-robes tend to the city's dead and help them to attain their next level of consciousness as well as disposing of the bodies. Some of the other faiths fear that the church causes death and pestilence in the city. Some people are disturbed that the church has never acknowledged or denied these charges. At any rate, the clergy of this faith are known for their cool demeanors, and warm dispositions. They worry very little about the future and live for today. This is what the church teaches its followers, to live on and experience life, for there will be one day in the future when you will die. It is a happy religion regardless of the connotations.

The church does not serve the populace of Jerusalem (or any other city for that matter) in any official role besides their care taking of the Necropolis outside the city's south walls. Their charitable works are numerous enough and their influence high enough, that the government is usually hesitant about asking for their aid. Other religions are wary of the faith. Some don't trust their calmness. Some are envious of their power which they seem to squander. Still, some are allies. The church of Gaia, for example, respects the raw primordial force that Death represents. Some hard-line members feel that Death is merely a part of Gaia, but others fear that it is Gaia who answers to Death, for all things, in their own time must do so.

The high temple of Death is a shining, black pyramid. It has no offices or antechambers. The pyramid is hollow and the supports brace the walls from the inside, meeting halfway up the height of the huge room where a single, strong pillar stands in the ground where the Dwarves who built the structure say that it's rooted directly in what they call the spine of the mountain. The outer curtain of the temple is glistening black steel and windows. A command word flips out half the windows to allow the breeze in.

Some Commandments of Death:

When death calls, you must heed. When the time is not ripe, you must fight. There are few commandments registered to the Jerusalem authorities by Death and this one is listed as their most precious, though it is difficult to quantify. How does one know when it is Death who is calling? How does one know when to fight for their own life or someone else's? The answers to these questions have been plaguing man for ages, but the real and true answer is both simple and complex. Sometimes someone is ready to die and they don't want to admit it. Other times, it's just the opposite. The highest state of being for a follower of Death is knowing that their time has come and accepting it willingly. Thankfully, for the followers of Death, life itself is held in such high regard that there is very little suicide all things considered.

Life is not yours to take. Woe to those who rob the Reaper of Her Prize. Although taking a life is obviously against the law in most societies, the crime is doubly dire for Death followers. This is not to say that killing in self-defense or in the defense of others is forbidden, however. If it is determined by divination, however, that the deceased's time had not been intended, the person is often resurrected and the person who killed him repremanded and forced to serve pennance.