Vulmar the Trickster

Summary

In the early days of the sea, a sailor by the name of Vulmur adventured throughout the world. Vulmur was known for his clever nature and his insatiable greed. He would trick kingdoms into relinquishing their great hordes of treasure using words and wit. Before long he was the undisputed King of the Pirates.
He was so crafty that he managed to avoid the Reapers of Thanatos for several years. Finally Thanatos approached Vulmur herself. She offered to give him 10 years to if he bested her in a game and then his soul would be hers, impressed with his ability to dodge her Reapers. He agreed and cheated his way to a victory.
Thanatos had been expecting it, with the aid of Werno she was able to see exactly how he cheated. She had been watching him for the entire time he was dodging her Reapers. During the 10 years, Vulmur offered his soul to the other gods in attempts to get out of his deal.
When the 10 years were up, Thanatos showed up to greet Vulmur. When he claimed that his soul belonged to the other gods she agreed. Vulmur was shocked, Thanatos was calm. She soon revealed that she had spoken to the other gods about his deals and bought them off of them. So Vulmur now owed her nine of his souls. Since he could only give her one of his souls, he would have to work of the other eight. He would also have to pay the price for the 10 years he cheated from Thanatos.
As punishment he was given a coal from Anar's Great Forge to light the way as he was forced to ferry the souls of the dead to the Material Plane during the All Souls Day. For nine times the years of his life, a grand total of 744 years, would be the number of days of the festival he would have to work. For the next 100,000 years he would have to ferry the dead, using a coal to guide the spirits.

Cultural Reception

Itherion

The myth of Vulmur the Trickster started the tradition of lighting a candle next to a possession of a deceased family member in order to light where Vulmur was to lead their loved ones. The practice of releasing candles down a stream or out to sea is to lead their loved ones back to Vulmur's ship in order to return them to the land of the dead. While the fires of Vulmur's coal will never die, the living family member's candles can. In order to keep the family souls from wandering the family members must keep a candle lit for the relatives the entire Festival.