Berath

Berath
General
Symbol
Aliases	The Twinned God Cirono (Vailian) Bewnen i Ankew/ Ankew i Bewnen (Glanfathan) Rikuhu (Kohopa / Tangaloa) (Huana) The Pallid Knight The Usher The Goddess of Death
Portfolio	Cycles Doorways Portals Mortality Death Inevitablity
Allies	Rymrgand (possible)
Foes	None
Symbols	A keyhole A jawless skull A skull incorporated in a doorway/keyhole
People
Followers	Beodmar Celby
Temple	Temple of Berath (Dyrford Village) Temple of Berath (Neketaka)
Priests
Playable	Yes
Godlike	Death godlike
Favored behaviour	Stoic Rational
Condemned behaviour	Cruel Passionate
Talent	The Pallid Hand
Related
Quests	A Servant of Death The Champion of Berath Eulogy for the Dead
Books	Berathian Scripture The Many Faces of Berath
Items	Berath's Bell Berath's Black Bell Blackened Plate Armor Cloak of Berath Sails of Berath

“	Berath is the god that makes life end in death, and it is also the god that makes death end in life [..] for it has given us the promise of life's eternal renewal.	”
~ The Many Faces of Berath

Berath (BEAR-ath) (Aedyran: Berath, Vailian: Cirono, Glanfathan: Bewnen i Ankew / Ankew i Bewnen, Huana: Rikuhu) is the god of cycles, of doors, and of life and death itself.

Background

Berath is the god of death, doors, and the wheel of reincarnation itself. Portrayed as either a genderless deity or twinned male and female incarnation, Berath seldom speaks with their followers. Their priests are expected to be rational and unemotional, treating death with a dispassionate dignity.

Role

It takes many forms in different cultures, but their names are widely invoked by most people at one time or another. Theologians see Berath as the guardian of all gateways, including the gates of life, death, and rebirth that all mortals must pass through.

Berath has a variety of manifestations, including:

	The Pallid Knight One of the youngest manifestations of Berath, but quite familiar to kith. Stories describe her as a gaunt knight in black armor with black eyes, black hair, and milk-pale skin. She demands an impossible toll from travelers who have tarried too long on her lord's road. The person either surrenders, or fights the knight and kill themselves in the process, or flee from him to stumble upon the Usher.
	The Usher A much older manifestation. Kith have written stories, songs, and poems about the Usher for centuries. Sometimes he's folk, sometimes dwarf, and sometimes merely a walking skeleton. He never speaks, but he guides the way to death. And the next life. He also creates the circumstances for the wayward to stumble into their own graves.
	Bewnen i Ankew and Ankew i Bewnen In Eir Glanfath's ruins, Berath is depicted in the form of two semi-skeletal figures - one male, one female - literally called Life in Death and Death in Life in the Glanfathan tongue. Male and female, inside and outside, life and death - we often think of Berath by imagining two sides of coin, or the two end points of a journey.
	Rikuhu Many Huana worship Berath as Rikuhu the twin eel good of the cycle of life and death. Rikuhu is depicted with the two eels: Kohopa representing the overworld and life, and Tangaloa who represents the underworld and death, devouring one another.

Cult

“	Berath teaches us that duality exists in all things. There is Life in Death, and Death in Life - embrace this duality and you honor Berath.	”
~ The Many Faces of Berath

Berath has a relatively small priesthood, in part because it does not speak often to them. However, Berath has many, many petitioners and occasional followers. While the common folk fear the priesthood of Berath, they respect them for their level-headedness and unflinching resolve in the face of endless death and suffering.

People commonly place or carve the figure of Berath in doorways, windows, and other "portals" from one place to another, figurative or literal.

See also

• Berathian Scripture
• The Many Faces of Berath

Gallery

• 

  Like a twinned display of the split aspects of Berath

• 

  Map of the Temple in Dyrford Village