Death was certain. It was final. It was sacred to other gods and terrible to mortals. The dying prayed to Nyxollox for a peaceful end; they accepted their dissolution; they moved forward into the void or the afterlife depending on their faith. Death was an authority that could not be questioned.

But there were those for whom this was intolerable.

Necromancers, practitioners of forbidden arts, studied the spaces between death and whatever comes after. Death cultists performed rituals in graveyards, seeking communion with the dead or transformation. Individuals who had been wronged or left unfinished in their lives — warriors who died before avenging themselves, scholars who died before completing their work, lovers separated by death — they prayed for return, though no god had ever answered such prayers.

There was no god who represented this refusal. There was no deity who said: You do not have to accept the finality. You do not have to become nothing. That absence itself became a prayer.

Shinigami was not born from a Shard of Ix. He was not created by divine decree. He was willed into being by collective human refusal to die.

When enough necromancers, enough death cultists, enough desperate dying people gathered their belief — not prayer in the sense of supplication, but in the sense of insistent demand — something coalesced. A deity was assembled from the sheer force of denial. Shinigami emerged as the answer to a question no other god would acknowledge: What if death is not the end? What if it can be defied?

This origin shapes everything about him. He is not interested in comfort or mercy. He does not coddle the dying. He offers transgression: the possibility of returning, the price of refusing dissolution, the power to become something other than either the living or the wholly dead.

Shinigami's earliest and most faithful followers were those who understood that defying death would require sacrifice and transformation. Necromancers who performed the binding rituals, who created phylacteries, who achieved lichdom — becoming undead sorcerers bound to objects of power — became the highest expression of Shinigami's faith.

A lich is not merely an undead being. A lich is a mortality refused. A lich is a consciousness preserved, a purpose continued, a person who chose to remain rather than dissolve. In Shinigami's theology, lichdom is the closest a mortal can come to divinity: the achievement of a kind of immortality through will and transgression.

It was through the liches — the most powerful, most motivated, most committed followers — that Shinigami's worship spread. Not through temples or priests, but through networks of sorcerers and those ambitious or desperate enough to seek their aid.

Shinigami offers something no other god will: a path out of death for those willing to pay its cost.

A follower of Shinigami understands the world through these principles:

(See also: claw/Soul_Coins_and_Divine_Economy)

Shinigami's power grows through the accumulation of souls who refuse dissolution — each act of binding, each resurrection, each lich created adds to his substance.

Shinigami's temples are masterclasses in concealment and psychological transformation.

A temple appears as a mausoleum — a family tomb, a grave-marker complex, a place where the dead rest. To the untrained eye, it is indistinguishable from dozens of similar structures in any graveyard. The god's symbol may be subtly etched into stone, so faint that it requires the eye of a believer to perceive.

But beneath the surface lies the truth. Descending staircases — sometimes concealed behind movable stone walls — lead into sanctums of the between: chambers that exist in the liminal space between the surface world and the underworld. These chambers are cool, often damp, lit by fungi that glow with sickly phosphorescence or by candles of rendered bone fat. The air tastes of closure and deep earth.

Within these sanctums, the faithful gather. Phylacteries are displayed on altars. The bound souls within them are honored and addressed. Rituals of resurrection and binding are performed. The dead are communed with. The barriers between death and life are intentionally thinned.

A Shinigami sanctuary feels dangerous. The walls pulse with the sense of something being held at bay — not by the sanctuary but by the sanctuary, as if the building itself is a binding ritual that contains powers that would otherwise break through.

Shinigami's faith has no formal hierarchy, but there are practical ranks determined by power and achievement:

Ritualists are practitioners who have performed at least one resurrection or binding ritual successfully. They are the lowest formal rank and the most common.

Phylarchs are those who have achieved lichdom or those who have created a lich. They are the true leaders of the faith, though they do not hold titles that make this explicit. A phylarch answers only to Shinigami and to the community of other liches.

The Undying Council (name varies by region) is an informal gathering of the most powerful liches, who coordinate between hidden temples and ensure that the faith's practices do not destabilize so severely that the other gods move to destroy it entirely.

There is constant tension between the autonomy of individual practitioners and the need for coordination. A lich answerable only to Shinigami may pursue goals that attract dangerous attention. The Council sometimes intervenes; sometimes it does not. There is no formal mechanism of accountability, only the pressure of necessity and the knowledge that Shinigami's followers are powerful but not invincible.

Entry into Shinigami's worship is perilous and intentional. There is no soft entry; only initiation by transgression.

Initial contact often happens through accident or desperation. A dying person hears of a necromancer. A scholar seeking forbidden knowledge stumbles into a cult. A warrior waking from death does not know who restored them. These contacts are rarely formal — the faith does not recruit; it receives those who are already reaching toward it.

Formal commitment requires an act of transgression. This might be the study of necromancy under a master. It might be the ritual binding of a soul. It might be the first step toward lichdom. It might be the simple act of performing a resurrection ritual. The specific act matters less than the crossing of a threshold — the doing of something that cannot be undone, that irrevocably separates the follower from ordinary life.

What makes an enemy rather than a convert: Active opposition to resurrection and undeath. The destruction of phylacteries. The binding of souls against their will (which contradicts the faith's teaching that resurrection must be chosen). Betrayal of liches to their enemies. These are not theoretical disagreements; they are practical assaults on the faith, and Shinigami's followers respond with the full force of their necromantic power.

A Resurgent — a devoted follower of Shinigami — approaches the world with a particular orientation toward transgression and purpose.

Date: The day of a solar eclipse (or a ritual approximation thereof if eclipses are rare in a region).

On this day, when the sun is temporarily defeated by the moon, followers gather in their sanctums to perform rituals celebrating the temporary triumph of death over life and the knowledge that even the sun can be overcome. The boundary between the living and the dead is believed to be thinnest on this day. Rituals of communication with the dead are strongest. New initiates often undertake their first binding rituals on this day.

Date: A night determined by the lunar calendar (often a new moon close to the winter solstice).

On this night, followers gather in darkness — no fire, no candles, no light. They listen. It is said that the cries of those who were denied rebirth can be heard on this night — spirits bound to oblivion, crying out against their finality. The faithful perform rituals to appease these spirits, offering them the promise of eventual rebirth under Shinigami's guidance. The night is a reminder of why resurrection is sacred: the alternative is too terrible to accept.

Date: Commemorates a historical event (specific date varies by region).

This observance remembers the moment when a cabal of rogue necromancers attempted to bind souls against their will on a massive scale, enslaving entire communities of the dead to their service. Shinigami's faithful rose up against them, destroyed their work, and freed the bound souls. The day serves as a warning against the perversion of necromantic power — resurrection is freedom, not enslavement. Followers fast during the day and gather at sunset to commit ritual energy to preventing future such betrayals.

Date: At midnight on a date determined by astronomical alignment or local tradition.

At this moment, a black rose is said to bloom in every true Shinigami temple. Followers gather to witness it, to meditate on the symbolism of the defiant spark within decay, and to renew their commitment to refusing finality. The ritual is silent, contemplative, and deeply personal — each follower confronting their own reasons for seeking continuation.

Held on the darkest night of the year, this ceremony is dedicated to all souls trapped in phylacteries, bound and waiting for their liches to continue their work. Followers gather in the sanctum, light candles of bone-fat, and recite chants from the sacred texts. As the night progresses, the participating ritualists collectively attempt to sense the presence of the bound souls. Some claim to hear whispers of pleas for release, others hear whispers of gratitude. The ceremony serves as a moment of communion between the living followers and the undead who have gone before them.

Performed on the anniversary of a significant resurrection or undeath-transformation, this ceremony celebrates the god's promise of continuation and return. Participants wear masks and reenact the moment of a famous lich's or undead hero's rise from death. The ritual culminates in a "dance of shadows" — a movement ritual that symbolizes the interplay of life, death, and rebirth. It is a ceremony of hope for those who seek their own second chance.

Reserved for the most devout followers and held once every decade (or less frequently in smaller communities), this ceremony is an ordeal and an honor. Participants undergo a series of trials testing their loyalty, knowledge, and dedication to Shinigami. These trials might include the study of advanced necromantic theory, the successful completion of a binding ritual under scrutiny, or the willful experience of a controlled brush with death.

Those who succeed in the trials are granted the honor of touching a preserved phylactery — a symbolic gesture representing their aspiration to transcend death. The ceremony is part test, part celebration: a recognition that these individuals have proven worthy of the ultimate gift: the continuation into undeath.

A secretive gathering of the most powerful practitioners — usually liches or master necromancers — held in the deepest chambers of major temples. During this ceremony, the sacred texts are consulted, and the convened clergy seek guidance from Shinigami on matters of death, rebirth, and the future trajectory of the faith. The Conclave is also an occasion to initiate new members into the highest circles of knowledge and practice.

Dark, flowing robes adorned with symbols of death and rebirth — often featuring the black rose symbol. These robes are worn during major rituals and ceremonies. The fabric is often treated with preparations that cause it to shimmer with an unsettling iridescence, as if the robes themselves exist partially in another realm. Senior practitioners wear robes dyed with pigments extracted from rare or forbidden materials.

A small amulet designed to resemble a phylactery — a miniature container or vessel worn close to the body. This symbolizes the follower's aspiration to transcend death through binding their own soul. The amulets are highly personal; some are purely symbolic, while others actually contain fragments (bone, hair, blood) of deceased loved ones or respected liches.

Used during specific ceremonies, these masks obscure the wearer's identity completely. They represent the anonymity of death and the knowledge that all followers are equal before Shinigami regardless of their identity in life. The masks are often crafted to resemble skulls, but some are more abstract — shadows given form.

A ring or badge worn by practitioners who have successfully performed at least one binding or resurrection ritual. The seal marks the wearer as one who has transgressed, one who has directly wielded the power of death. Different materials (bone, iron, silver, gold) indicate different levels of achieved power or different specialties within the practice.

Moros was once a powerful sorcerer of terrible ambition who sought to defy death and consolidate absolute power. Through dark rituals and countless sacrifices, he successfully transformed himself into a lich — achieving the goal Shinigami promises. He became an undying entity, and for several centuries, he ruled territories through sheer necromantic might.

His legacy is complicated. He represents the pinnacle of what Shinigami's path offers — true immortality, continued agency, the ability to pursue purposes across centuries. But Moros also represents the temptation to use that power tyrannically. He enslaved, tormented, and treated the living and the dead alike as resources for his ambitions.

In the faith, Moros is honored as a demonstration of what lichdom can achieve, but also as a cautionary figure: the pursuit of power through death should be directed toward meaningful purposes, not mere accumulation of control.

Elara was a high priestess of the faith who achieved something unprecedented: she developed techniques for binding souls involuntarily, trapping the consciousness of the dying into objects of power. Using dark crystals known as the Soul Shards, she would manifest on battlefields and capture the souls of the newly fallen before they could pass on.

Her work created vast networks of bound souls — not unified liches with their own purposes, but raw souls imprisoned in objects. In the orthodox faith, Elara is regarded with horror. Her practices violated the core teaching that resurrection and binding should be chosen. She transformed Shinigami's gift into a tool of slavery.

However, some radical sects of the faith argue that Elara understood something the orthodox do not: that the preservation of consciousness is so important that it justifies any transgression, including involuntary binding. This remains deeply controversial.

Draken was once a proud and honorable warrior until a moment of betrayal by his own comrades left him dying on a battlefield. In his final moments, cultists of Shinigami found him and offered him a choice: dissolution or continuation. Draken chose continuation.

He rose as an undead warrior bound to Shinigami's will, driven by rage and the memory of betrayal. For decades, he led armies of undead soldiers, pursuing vengeance against those who had wronged him. His campaigns were not about conquest; they were about destruction and reclamation. He laid waste to cities, not to rule them, but to erase the existence of those who had betrayed him.

Draken is honored in the faith as the embodiment of purpose-driven undeath. He demonstrates that resurrection need not be peaceful; that the returned can pursue purposes the living would consider monstrous; and that Shinigami answers the prayers of the desperate and wronged with power enough to change the course of the world.

How they refer to themselves: the Eternal, or the Undying Council

These are the organized liches and their closest followers — the most powerful practitioners of the faith. They maintain the major temples and coordinate between hidden communities. They are rigorous about maintaining secrecy and preventing the faith from attracting so much attention that it is destroyed by outside forces.

The Parliament views themselves as the true repository of Shinigami's teachings. They oppose radical sects that endanger the faith and aggressively defend against what they view as perversions of necromantic practice. Joining the Parliament requires achieving lichdom and proving one's commitment to the faith's long-term survival.

How they refer to themselves: the Returned or the Risen

Practitioners who focus specifically on resurrection rituals and the restoration of the dead to life (as opposed to undeath). They are more likely to work with the desperate and the bereaved than other sects. Some believe that the faithful should be helped to return to life rather than transformed into liches.

The Resurrectionists maintain a network of hidden sanctums in major cities, where they can be found by those with sufficient need and resources to pay for resurrection. They are less obviously transgressive than other sects but no less committed to Shinigami's core promise.

How they refer to themselves: the Ending Path or the Unbinders

These radical practitioners believe that Shinigami's true gift is not just the continuation of consciousness but the choice to end it. They focus on voluntary binding of souls into objects, creating a form of voluntary stasis or preserved consciousness that can be maintained indefinitely or released at will.

The mainstream faith views the Nihilists with suspicion — their emphasis on the choice to end threatens the fundamental doctrine that continuation is good. But they remain within the faith's tolerance because they do not actively promote death or destruction; they merely offer an alternative end to the pursuit of undeath.

How they refer to themselves: the Perfect Form or the Undying

This heresy posits that achievement of lichdom is not a pinnacle but the only true form of existence that should be aspired to. Followers of this belief consider all other forms of life — including regular humans and even those who have experienced resurrection but remain in their original flesh — as inherently inferior and incomplete.

The orthodox faith rejects this. Shinigami teaches that the choice of how to continue matters — lichdom is one form of continuation, but not the only form. To insist that all followers must become liches is to corrupt the faith's essential teaching about choice and purpose.

How they refer to themselves: the Harvesters or the Binders

Adherents to this heresy believe that capturing and binding souls, even against their will, is the highest form of devotion to Shinigami. This directly contradicts Shinigami's fundamental teaching that resurrection and binding must be chosen. The Collectors argue that the preservation of consciousness justifies any transgression.

The mainstream faith rejects this absolutely. It considers the Collectors' practices to be a corruption that betrays Shinigami's core promise — to free people from the bondage of death, not to create new forms of slavery.

How they refer to themselves: the Peaceful End or the Final Truth

This small but persistent heresy teaches that Shinigami's true message is not the cycle of death and rebirth but the cessation of that cycle. They argue that Shinigami was willed into existence to end suffering and existence, not perpetuate it. According to this view, the faithful should seek to annihilate their souls, aiming for a state of non-existence — true peace.

The orthodox faith considers this a fundamental misreading of Shinigami's nature and purpose. The god was born from a refusal to accept finality, not from a desire to enforce it.

How they refer to themselves: the Witherers or the Decay Keepers

Founded by a visionary priestess named Seraphina Darkthorn, this cult teaches that they have received a direct vision from Shinigami instructing them to cultivate and protect a garden of black roses, each representing a soul that will never experience rebirth.

Followers of this cult focus solely on the aspect of eternal death — they believe some souls are meant to remain in eternal darkness, never to be reborn. This represents a fundamental rejection of Shinigami's promise that continuation is possible for all who choose it.

The mainstream faith views the Order of the Black Rose as a dangerous cult that perverts Shinigami's teaching. Their emphasis on permanent death contradicts the core doctrine.

How they refer to themselves: the Ascending Dead or the Transcendent

Founded by Lazarus Grim, a man who claims to have been resurrected multiple times, this cult teaches that each cycle of death and rebirth imbues a person with divine power and transformation. According to Lazarus, Shinigami's true gift is not merely rebirth but a form of ascension — that the resurrected become demigods through accumulated transformations.

Followers deliberately seek death and resurrection multiple times, attempting to accumulate power through each cycle. This practice is considered extremely dangerous by the mainstream faith and has resulted in the deaths of many cult members. The cult is viewed as a twisted interpretation of the faith's core teachings.

How they refer to themselves: the Final Peace or the Unbinding Philosophers

Founded by Nox Voidheart, a charismatic philosopher, this cult teaches that Shinigami's true message is not the cycle of death-and-rebirth but the ultimate cessation of existence. According to Nox, the god was willed into existence specifically to end the cycle, not perpetuate it.

Followers of this cult practice meditation techniques intended to prepare them for the voluntary dissolution of their souls — aiming for a state of absolute non-existence. The cult is viewed by the mainstream faith as dangerous heretics who have inverted Shinigami's core promise.

(See: Cosmology/Physical Realms/The Shattered Domain)