Grave Shepherd

The Oathsworns of Kindness. Often times referred to as Death Knights, these blessed individuals carry the heavy burden of carrying out Kindness's will. They fight with all four limbs and are capable of jumping great heights. Their attacks damage both the body and soul, ensuring that healing would be extremely difficult. Grave Shepherds are able to harm incorporeal beings, as their weapons exist in two realms at once, the living and the dead. Grave Shepherds can emit a terrifying death whistle that wreaks havoc on their foe's willingness to fight. A Grave Shepherd's strength increases for each soul aided, they could part ways with a bit of their power in return for the Shepherd's service.

Tenets

"Guide lost souls, grant rest to those that are denied it."

"Deliver punishment unto those that try to cheat death, bring them to mother Kindness."

"Never mourn the dead, take joy for they are now embraced."

Gifts

Guidance Over Souls: The Oath of Kindness grants the abilities to sense and communicate with the souls of the recently departed. The servants of Kindness help them find peace and closure allowing them to move on to the realm of the dead.

Spiritual Wisdom: Those who swear the Oath of Kindness gain profound knowledge of the afterlife and the spiritual realm. They develop a deep understanding of the natural cycle of life and death, giving them clarity in situations of moral or existential crisis.

Protection in the Face of Death: The servitude to Kindness provides divine favor. Those who follow the oath may be shielded from unnatural death, disease, or even the corruption of necromancy. The fear of death is diminished, as they have insight into what lies beyond.

Tribulations

BURDEN OF SOULS: Every soul guided and communicate with lays a piece of them with the grave shepherd, and eventually the weight of their troubles, their lives and experiences will weigh down one's soul, burdening their mind and heart. The burden can get overwhelming, potentially leading to emotional fatigue or mental instability.

ISOLATION FROM LIFE: By becoming an intermediary between life and death, the Grave Shepherd can feel distant from the living. Their connection to death makes it harder for them to engage with normal, mundane life, often making relationships and social bonds difficult to maintain.

MORAL DILEMMAS: The Oath of Kindness requires great empathy, even for those who have done harm in life. They must guide all souls, even the evil and malevolent, which can lead to difficult choices and moral quandaries. This constant exposure to suffering and death may strain their sense of justice.

=Breaking The Oath of Kindness= Breaking the sacred vow to the Fundamental of Kindness holds severe consequences for the oathbreaker both physically and spiritually. The punishment itself will reflect the gravity of the betrayal, as the oath connects the Grave Shepherd not only to the divine, but to the natural balance of life and death.

Oathbreaking Acts

• Desecrating or disrespect of the death. Be that abandoning souls in need, looting corpses, enslavement of souls or otherwise.

• Misuse of Kindness's Gift for selfish malicious, or harmful purposes, especially if it causes unnecessary death, suffering and fear of death.

• Attempting to seek immortality, violate the balance of life and death, or cheat death.

• Forgetting those slain, every death inflicted must be remembered.

• Disregarding rituals of remembrance and weekly gravetending duties and other oath's duties.

• Acting without compassion from unneeded cruelty or refusal of aid the vulnerable.

• Betraying Kindness's will from failing to uphold promises to kindness or disavowing her.

Spiritual Punishments

Withdrawal of Divine Favor: The most immediate consequence would be the complete loss of Kindness’s blessings. All divine abilities, such as guiding souls, holy magic, protection from death, and even the sense of clarity in the face of mortality, would be stripped away, leaving the oath-breaker vulnerable.

Haunted by the Dead: The spirits of those they failed to guide or betrayed would torment them, appearing as restless phantoms. These hauntings would remind the oath-breaker of their failure, whispering accusations and sowing doubt and guilt in their mind.

Rejection from the Mija Realm: The ultimate punishment from Kindness would be the rejection from the afterlife. The oath-breaker would no longer have a place in the Mija Realm (or the equivalent afterlife), forever condemned to wander the spiritual planes without rest. Their soul would be barred from eternal peace, cursed to eternal limbo.

Physical and Emotional Punishments

Mark of Betrayal: The breaking of the oath may result in a physical mark, such as a scar or brand that signifies their betrayal of the divine. This mark would not only serve as a constant reminder to the oath-breaker but would also be visible to others as a sign of their transgression.

Aging and Decay: One of the cruelest punishments might be an accelerated physical decline. The oath-breaker could rapidly age or fall prey to illness and decay, as their bond with the cycle of life and death is shattered. Their body might weaken as if death is constantly pulling at them, though never offering release.

Cursed Mortality: While those who upheld the oath might have had some protection from death, breaking the oath could have cursed them with a slow, painful death. Worse, their death might be delayed unnaturally, trapping them in a decaying, failing body for far longer than natural life would allow.

Kindness’s Final Judgment

If the betrayal is severe enough, Kindness may personally intervene to exact judgment, often resulting in such punishments as:

Forced Servitude in Death: The oath-breaker’s soul may be bound in death to serve as a spectral guide or servant to Kindness, unable to rest or find peace until their failures have been redeemed, which could take centuries or even eternity.

Reclamation of the Soul: In extreme cases, Kindness may claim the oath-breaker’s soul prematurely, cutting short their life and sentencing them to existence as undead or spirit, bound to the will of the god. Their humanity and free will would be stripped, leaving them as a tool of death and nothing more.