Ouroboros

## Description

The shrouded Ouroboros is the River Guide, the divine ferryman of the dead across the Astral Sea (also known as the Astral Plane), while also presiding over the Ethereal plane. Silent, bent, and tattered, he patiently fulfills his role. Ouroboros is never without his signature staff, a gnarled length of dark wood. It is said that when he lays his staff out within the Astral Sea, it becomes a boat to carry the dead.

Ouroboros cares little for the other gods' conflict with mortals: his primary concern is safe passage for the dead. When he gathers the newly dead to be ferried across the Astral Sea, Ouroboros sends skeletal griffins to fetch those who stray. Ouroboros has been associated not just with the passage of the dead however, but passage of any kind, particularly across the seas. As such, Ouroboros is also consider the god of the seas. Because of this, many individuals will offer prayers to Ouroborous by stacking stones near rivers, it is said that if the stones remain undisturbed for several days, your prayer has been heard.

## Myths

Ouroboros eternally performs a remarkable labor, ferrying mortal souls to the afterlife. During the River Guide's ages of toil, he has inspired a number of legends.

### The Ouroborian Obols

Some claim that Ouroboros doesn't collect coins out of greed but because he's looking for four specific treasures. Apocryphal writings claim that Ouroboros was the first mortal to die. When he came to face the gods, he brought a single treasure as an offering to each of Terrestria's four mightiest deities, (Zenith, Phosphorous, Senescence, and Esotaria) hoping to receive a peaceful place among them in return.

The gods realized what Ouroboros' spirit represented: the first of an endless flood of mortal souls that would soon begin to join Ouroboros in death. Unwilling to spend eternity sorting the endless stream of dead mortals themselves. the other gods did give Ouroboros a place among them, as well as charging him with his impossible task. They also offered him a measure of hope. The gods cast Ouroboros' offerings back into the mortal world in the form of five coins. They promised Ouroboros that, once he collected the coins anew, the gods would free the River Guide from his service and welcome him into their ranks. Ever since, Ouroboros has labored, both at ferrying the dead and in search of his five lost coins, called the Ouroborian Obols. It's said that any who bring the River Guide one of the coins will be rewarded with a wish for anything Ouroboros can grant—even exception from death.

### Death's Denier

Some legends tell of an ancient shade who has tarried at the banks of the Astral Sea longer than any other, a woman, ancient beyond years and clad only in her own flowing hair and sagging skin, who some passing souls mistake for Ouroboros. This figure is Inficior, once an oracle from New Khiba. Inficior refuses to pay Ouroboros' price, or to have it paid for her. For untold centuries, she has harassed the newly dead, learning an incredible amount about the mortal world in the process. The only thing she's less impressed with than the state of the modern world is Ouroboros, whom she curses like a bitter old friend whenever the River Guide draws near. If any mortal has ever truly known Ouroboros, it is her.

### Eight Exceptions

Eight times in the course of history, Ouroboros has purposely allowed a mortal to delay their death or temporarily return from the afterlife. These individuals were restored as living beings (not as undead) to complete particular tasks. As a record of these exceptions, Ouroboros bears a funerary-like mask of each individual. Despite centuries between bargains, though, no one who Ouroboros has made an exception for has ever returned. As a result, the River Guide refuses to make another exception. He might be convinced to do otherwise were someone to bring one of the eight lost souls, such as Biaas the Poison Drinker, Dianyan Half-Heart, or Hundred-Damned Thasmudyan—before him for punishment.