Zuulimos
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Zuulimos is one of the few non-corporeal heroes around in this world of capery! An enigmatic, intimidating and shadowy spirit, he's still shown himself to be an entity concerned with the civilians of MC.
Contents
Zuulimos, the Shadows Unending.
History!
Very little of this spirit..orwhatever the heck he is...is known. His history, his creation....Nothing. Zuulimos himself only gives the slightest indications of his origins:
I come from the far-reaching corners, where the Shadows are Unending. It is a solemn place, fitting for it's residents. Though the Shadows be our home, we still feel drawn to trespass into the light. The reasons....Many. Mine was defiance, and realization.
What is Zuulimos?
Zuulimos is usually defined as a spirit, though 'shade' works just as well. He has no real form on his own: normally, he's just a large mass of shadowy tentacles, with two orbs for eyes. However, his interactions with humans have made him think he should use a human shape.
The screaming and crying was very annoying, after all.
Sadly, Zuulimos's understanding of 'not creepy' is rather poor. If he ever was a human, he's certainly unlearned it! His 'human form' is a black ( not dark. UTTER BLACK) humanoid upper body with no features, save for two purple fireballs, attached to a mass of wriggling shadow tentacles.
It has to be be noted that several mages have confirmed that Zuulimos has nothing to do with the infernal forces. This has (predictably) surprised some people.
What is Zuulimos?....For real?
Okay, okay, FINE.
The Zuulsters isn't a shade at all. Any smuck with a passing grade of spiritual knowledge/or magic can figure out that he doesn't have the malicious miasma that most shades emit.
So what is he? Well....He's a Reaper. No, not a giant robot squid! No, no. I mean the Grim Reaper. A psychopomp, if you wanna be fancy.
Though mind, A reaper. A. There's quite a few of the scythe-wielding buggers around. People keep dying left and right, all over.
And for the luddites : a Grim Reaper ISN'T Death. No, that's another cookie jar entirely. But moving on...
You might be wondering : why hide that? Three reasons;
1) He doesn't want people scared shitless of him. Those that would believe him could consider it disturbing to hang around someone who collects souls. How creeped out would you be if you knew that the guy in front of you knows when you'll die.
2) Quite a few people would think he's lying. I mean, shades? Sure, that's not too far off from demons, right? But a fullblown collecter of souls? Shyeah, right!
3) He'd rather not answer questions about 'how will I die?' and 'What's heaven like?' and so on. He either doesn't know, or it's a difficult answer to give, for multiple reasons. More later on!
Why is he a good guy?
Zuulimos isn't a demon..or even evil, for that matter. Though calling him 'good' is difficult, as well. His task requires him to be neutral in most affairs pertaining to it. So why is he a good guy?
Firstly, he doesn't cause ( Except in VERY special exceptions) the deaths in the first place. He just helps guide the souls in the aftermath.
Secondly,survival. True, him being a reaper makes it very difficult to put down, but Zuulimos had considered and observed the struggles of Earth. He noted a couple of important things:
1)'Good' usually won, despite the sometimes unbelievable odds. Certainly, 'evil' had it's moments, but in the end, it was generally the forces of good who were the last ones standing! If you can't beat them, join them!
2)The benefits were heavily favored towards 'Good':
Joining 'Good' :
Pro : relative safety from humanity, possible admiration, reliable allies, good support network.
Cons : Dangerous work, villains might kill you, possible paperwork, possibly non-fatal inter-rivalries.
Joining 'Evil' :
Pro : Possible admiration, more black market connections, possible riches.
Cons : Dangerous work, villains might kill you, heroes might beat you up or kill you, possible paperwork, unstable allies, lousy intercommunications, possibly fatal inter-rivalries, definite fear from the populace.
3) Heroes have been known (rarely, but still..) to have slain demi-gods. He'd rather not take the risk of someone figuring out a way to put him down, no matter how implausible the notion is.
Zuulimos definitely saw the appeal of 'good'. Certainly, he'd have to cut back on some less socially accepted practices, but the good outweighs the bad...in more than one way!
Of course, there's reason number 4: Zuulimos actually -likes- being the good guy. Reapers are generally considered to be evil douchebags. Some of them blame Death himself for that. The entity can be a bit of a prick.
Regardless, he'd never admit that last sentence out loud. He kinda likes existing.
Rules of Reaping
You have become a Reaper. Congratulations may or may not be in order. I, Zuulimos, have been tasked with writing an easy-to-follow set of guidelines for fledgling reapers.
Do note that these are merely guidelines. They're not enforced rules. However, not following those rules may anger Death.. And Angry Death likes to boot stupid reapers out of existence. Just so you know.
Where's my scythe, brah?
You might already be looking for your scythe. And perhaps some faux-chique gothic robes. Despite what you may think, they're NOT the uniform.
That particular image only popped up half a millennium ago, give or take a century. But a scythe isn't needed to for reaping. Still, it IS iconic ( I use it as well!) and fairly badass-looking, so if you want to use one, go right ahead!
There's two ways:
1) Get an existing scythe, and hold it while reaping. This will imbue it with your essence. This is the easiest method, but it carries a risk. It would be an material thing, so it can be stolen, which may have severe consequences for you. Also, holding the darn thing is a really difficult endeavor for non-corporeal reapers. They'd best stick to...
2)..Creating it from scratch. It requires some imagination and sufficient will to manifest your very own scythe. But once you do, you'll never lose it, as it'll always reform at your side, no matter what!
Why he'd die, brah?
Being a reaper, you're going to see people die. In fact, when you look at mortals, you'll know how and when they'll clock out.
So you might get slightly confused when it proves to be wrong.
One of the more firmclad rules of reality: The future is never set in stone. It's mostly because of this thing called 'free will', you might've heard about it?
Every action that a mortal undertakes has the potential to change their future fate. Or hell, even outside factors might change it.
For this reason,it's strongly advised to NOT tell mortals their time of death. That kinda knowledge can utterly change the outcome ( causing a lot more work on your end) or even worse, cause the predicted death to happen even faster.
I know, it sounds strange, but most people just die quicker if you tell them when they'll die. So unless you're an amoral A-hole, don't, unless it's really important to the universe or crap like that.
What the gray, brah?
The Gray is one of the more rarer things you'll see. This only happens when a mortal is going to come up to a true crossroad of destiny. A moment where a singular action will decide their fates. You'll recognize it by the sudden lack if color on your end. It's recommended that you stick around such people. Reapers only get the Gray when one of the actions will be death.
Stick to the program, brah!
More to come latahs!
