Death apostles

Death apostles are humanoid beings that have black scales and mantis like blades attached to their arms. They are filled with the urge to kill and as they grow older they are better able to control those urges they are obsessed with the concept of death and are often philosophers on the morality of when to kill and when to not their element is almost always destruction.

Basic Information

Biological Traits

It is hard to in an initial glance differentiate between male and female death apostles and there are almost no actual differences in how they’re treated

Growth Rate & Stages

Death apostles have four stages of life when they are born Death Apostles grow up like normal humans they still have scales but their blades on their arms are dull. At around the age of seven Death apostles start to feel murders intent but they don’t really realize what it is while they’re like this is where they grow the most as their new attitude causes them to be highly aggressive needing a lot of active outlets to get their energy out they also start to hit their blades against rocks at this age making the “blades” sharp enough to pierce human skin. At the age of eleven the young Death apostle is instructed to make their first kill and after this they realize what their blood lust really is and for a while are highly violent during this time period the child does not interact with other young Death apostles and are instead constantly watched by at least one of their parents every other day the young Death apostle is calmed by a life apostle while being held back to make sure they don’t hurt the life apostle in any way. During this time period the parents try to teach the child basic views and debate skills and fights them to try to let out some of their extreme bloodlust and teach them to respect the parents. Starting at the age of thirteen the young Death apostle can take a test to be considered an adult. The test consists of first being able to have a meaningful debate with the elders on any subject then the test taker is locked alone in a room for two days with a live animal and rations if by the end of the two day period they can resist killing the animal an elder comes in and gives him permission to kill it after which an life apostle calms him and they are considered an adult and can now start to look for a job they can do for the tribe, part of the animal killed is then used to make a sort of talisman that the Death apostle keeps with them for the rest of their lives. If the Death apostle fails the test they can retake it in another year until the child reaches the age of twenty which if he still couldn’t pass at that point he is considered unstable and is mercifully killed

Dietary Needs and Habits

Death apostles have learned how to use every single peace of the animals they kill

Biological Cycle

Death apostles sometimes shed their scales during the summer time during this time period is when their scales are at their weakest

Additional Information

Social Structure

Death apostles hold great reverence to life apostles. Young Death apostles only respect non life apostles based on combat prowess while older death apostles are always wary of younger ones and respect people based on their age and their abilities to discuss their views on death the day to day decisions of Death apostles are decided by a group of elders. Each adult Death apostle has their own jobs and are constantly trying to perfect their craft.

Domestication

When captured for gladiatorial combat humans usually drug any food that they feed to the death apostles until they’re needed for combat after combat is done they throw in an animal usually a pig that is full of drugs so when the death apostles eat it they go back to being docile. This is a scarring experience for any of the Death apostles involved and caused the race to have a deep distrust of humans

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Humans use Death apostles in gladiatorial combat and there are some who make armor out of their scales.

Facial characteristics

Death apostles’ faces are very similar to human faces though the scales makes it hard to tell the details of them at first

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Death apostles form nomadic tribes in forests

Average Intelligence

As long as they can some into contact with a life apostle the average intelligence of death apostles are very high and they have a natural inclination towards philosophy the longer they are separated from a life apostle though the more this intelligence slowly degrades

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Death apostles generally have better senses then the average person but not supernaturally so

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

It is traditional to name children after the first being the namer killed that they know the name of

Major Organizations

There is a place in the forest that only Death apostles know where anytime a tribe has extra life apostles will have them live there and any time a tribe of Death apostles don’t have enough life apostles they can visit the place and have the life apostle living there join their tribe

Beauty Ideals

Death apostles are more interested in the grace and fighting capabilities of potential mates as opposed to any physical features

Gender Ideals

Women and men are considered equal in Death apostle society because there is no real difference in their abilities or inclinations

Courtship Ideals

preassigned marriage is done by first having the elders ask each Death apostle involved if they want the relationship and if they both say yes it is then announced to the tribe and a feast is served after which the new couple go to a private area to have relations. When two Death apostles want to have more of an unofficial romance it is traditional to kill and eat something together to seal a union

Relationship Ideals

There are two types of relationships in Death apostle society one is a assigned relationship between at least friends to have and raise children this is considered a huge honor and responsibility as young Death apostles are incredibly hard to manage. The other type of relationship is a mix of human love and deep friendship they move in with said person one of the bigger goals for a Death apostle is to have this type of relationship

Average Technological Level

Death apostles can construct basic tools and can be taught to handle and construct complex machinery but their nomadic ways make it rare for them to do so

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Death apostles speak a unique language that seems to have evolved from common

Common Etiquette Rules

Before a meal Death apostles thanks the person who killed any animals for their meat and then thanks the animal itself for the food they supplied it is also common to allow the oldest Death apostle in the group the first pick out of any meals served. If a death apostle is leaving to either to follow orders or to do a task they usually strike the two blades on their arms against each other before leaving. Anyone older then the Death apostle is usually referred to as elder and rarely when a Death apostle wants to acknowledge another’s wisdom and show their great respect they refer to them as learned.

Common Dress Code

Death apostles value form over function making clothes out of whatever materials they can find in the forest in a form that doesn’t hamper movement.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Death apostles are curios of other beings religion especially their versions of the afterlife and they often each choose the ones they like best to believe in it’s not uncommon for everyone in a tribe of Death apostles to believe in a different religion

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Once a year there is a celebration to thank the life apostles during which is a dance based around the myth of the being of light and the shadows traditionally with a life apostle as the being of light and Death apostles as the shadows. There is another 3 day holiday later in the year where everyone in the tribe gets together to have a massive debate with only the people with absolutely essential jobs not going but they usually do it a day after the official holiday ends and has someone else take over their jobs for awhile. It is also considered a great blessing when Death apostles have twins with a life apostle and a Death apostle as it usually makes the Death apostle slightly more in control then normal Death apostles if there are twin Death apostles it is seen by the more superstitious as a sight that there is a great amount of death elsewhere in the world having twin life apostles is considered a bad omen to the tribe as it shows that they will need more of them the same applies to triplets only more extreme

Common Taboos

It is considered taboo to kill any being in front of a Death apostle without their permission and they will never kill anything in front of a life apostle if they can help it.

History

Death apostles originally were made up of one stationary tribe located in the place now used to drop off their life apostles this location is the Death apostles greatest secret. While they were one tribe one day all the life apostles got trapped the details of how they got trapped is never told as it gives hints on where the location was but the Death apostles were unable to get them out and soon went on a rampage attacking a nearby human town causing the humans to think of Death apostles from this point onwards as monsters fortunately their leader Grimgaw control himself long enough to free the life apostles and eventually returned his people to their normal more docile state because of this tragedy Grimgaw decided that it was too dangerous to have all of the life apostles in one place and that even if the now more aggressive humans find them they wouldn’t all be destroyed so they separated them into separate tribes After that eventually the Death apostles started to be more accepted again and while most of the world still considers them as monsters and sometimes hunts them most of the nearby human settlements have made peace treaties with the Death apostle tribes

Historical Figures

one of the most important historical figures for the Death apostle was a Death apostle named Grimgaw who was the one who both led the Death apostles when they were one tribe and was the one who separated the Death apostles into separate smaller nomadic tribes

Common Myths and Legends

Death Apostles have a unique creation myth they believe that the world they live in is made out of the remains of a whole bunch of dead and dying worlds with only a little of it original to the new world but the new elements are able to better the things from the old worlds each time growing closer to the perfect world
Another one of their myths is that at the beginning of time there was an entity made completely out of white light this being was lonely and made multiple things to try to talk to but they could not make anything sentient or could change in any way out of sheer loneliness they started to talk to the only thing that was around that changed which was the shadows that were made off of their creations eventually they were able to first figure out how to make things that could be changed and even later sentient beings the shadows some say became jealous while others say that the shadows just wanted to be able to have something from the being made out of light who by nature they loved but could not touch either way the shadows started to take the sentient beings and held them close inventing the concept of death in the world the being of light once again experienced loneliness and for the first time they also experienced loss and grief, but they were incapable of blaming the shadows their oldest friend who was just acting within their nature so the being of light made a deal with the shadows the being of light would distribute themselves amongst the beings they created and the shadows would stick with them for as long as light touches them to remind them that their closest friend is still with them and in return for allowing the new creatures a chance at life and so nothing else has to experience the loneliness of immortality the shadows can eventually take the beings back into its embrace the last thing the creation of the Death and life apostles were a sign of this deal and after they were created the being of light distributed their essence unto all of their creations and the world has followed the pact ever since

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

While Death apostles may fall in love with other species they are incapable of naturally having relations or children with them

Genetic Descendants

• life apostles

Lifespan

90 years

Conservation Status

Considered by most humans to be monsters and to be killed on sight

Average Height

5 foot 8 inches

Average Weight

150 pounds

Average Physique

Death apostles are stronger and better built then humans

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Death apostles are covered in black scales