Goddess of Death
Symbol: A skull with roses growing from the eye sockets
Worshipers: The Monks of Balance
Saintly Markers: Dead-looking skin, a skull for a head, plants growing and dying beneath their feet
Common Areas of Influence: Life and death, balance
Traits: Fair, mysterious, wrathful
Although Garruth gave life and Habeth's time gives death, Mortem y Vitae is the gatekeeper who shuttles those souls in between. Also known simply as Death, Mortem y Vitae is, more than anything, about balance. She monitors the scales between things that live and die, knowing when each and every living thing in Verden is due for death to take them. In many ways, She or her followers will appear when it is time to take a soul to Heaven. Those that resist, or artificially extend their lives, or take the lives of others before they are meant to leave - they are punished. There is nothing worse to Mortem y Vitae than a violation of the balance of life and death. In many cases, it's unclear or difficult to understand why someone was taken or not taken - a horrible mass murderer may not be ready to die yet, and a child of two years old may be taken early. Only the Goddess knows the reasons why.
The followers of Mortem y Vitae are quite often abhorred due to their fanatical natures. Before taking a life, they always commune with the Goddess first to understand whether it is their time. If it is time, then the Monks of Balance (as they are called) will bring a swift death. If it is past their time, the Monks will kill them slowly, torturing them as they die for daring to defy the balance. If it is not yet their time, the Monks will sacrifice themselves in great number to keep them alive, even if they are being punished for crimes or the like. As such, when magic was outlawed and hundreds of sorcerers were burnt at the stake, the Monks of Balance took a huge hit to their numbers - many of them sacrificed themselves to try to prevent the executions.
