Athreos (ahth - ree - oh- ss)
The God of Passage
All mortals are destined to face Athreos, the River Guide, when their lives come to an end. The god of passage ferries the dead across the Tartyx River, conveying each mortal soul to its destiny in the Underworld. For most people, Athreos embodies the greatest mysteries of existence -- the terror and wonder of life's last moment and the revelation of one's ultimate fate in the afterlife.
Athroes is no judge, though. The veiled, silent god undergoes no deliberations and makes no exceptions. The River Guide reads the truth of each soul and bears it unfailingly to its proper place in the Underworld. There is no haggling and no sympathy on Athreos's skiff, the god having hear and denied every conceivable mortal plea.
Athreos appears as a gaunt figure cloaked in ragged robes and a collection of golden masks. What little can be seen of his body is unsettling, its gray flesh strectched thin over a barely human skeleton. The River Guide is never without his ancient staff, Katabasis, which he transforms into the ferryboat he uses to ply the Rivers That Ring the World.
Though the deity's shrouded form gives no clue, many mortals consider Athreos to be male, but the River Guide cares for terms or labels no more than any other force of nature. Athreos can change shape but rarely , if ever, takes on other forms.
Divine Domains
Death, Grave, and Nature
Divine Symbols & Sigils
Crescent Moon
Tenets of Faith
Most funeral traditions include small offerings and words of reverence to Athreos. Predominant among these traditions is burying or burning the dead with a clay funerary mask, to "frame" the identity of the dead for athreos, and with at least one coin, so a soul might pay Athreos to ferry them to the Underworld. Some people are laid to rest with large amounts of grave goods.
Memorial practices vary widely by culture, from tearful, somber affairs to lively celebrations. These rutals serve more as catharsis for the living than as meaningful boons to Athreos, though. The River Guide cares only for the single coin he's owed by and who board his skiff.
Holidays
During the feast of the Necrologion pious souls silently spend the day reading ancient memoirs or writing messages for their own descendants.
Divine Goals & Aspirations
Athreos endlessly works to maintain the balance between Nyx, the Underworld, and the lands of the living. The River Guide sees himself as a servant of the mortal world and knows nothing of the glamor, honor, or mystery mortals often ascribe such to him. Rather, he does what must be done, and should some cosmological condition fall out of sorts, the River Guide and his servants work with silent efficiency to restore balance.
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