While many thieves have attempted to take advantage of the treasury of weapons within, these are closely and carefully guarded, and the wards and magics protecting them also seeming to hold an extra level of divine protection. The temples often hold an armory of such weapons, kept locked tightly away to prevent them from ever again being used to inflict cruelty. Paladins and clerics of the Twins will collect the weapons of their foes, or claws or teeth of beasts they kill, and leave them in the temples as offerings to the gods. They communicate with their followers through dreams and visions, and it is very rare they are seen in the mortal realm. They might bury their foes after a fight or see to it that the remains are returned to a loved one. Followers of the twins tend to show utmost respect to the deceased, even enemies, as they believe that their Lords are the only ones truly capable of judging them. They also stand against anything that might be seen as an affront to their deities’ authority, such as creating undead or unnaturally extending ones lifespan. Their followers are expected to oppose murder and unjust killing of sentient beings. Here he pulls visions of the deceased’s life to pass judgment upon them, and the soul watches their lives play out before them. The dead are brought to a rough room under the Great Mountain, where Thanatos sits, larger-than-life, on a throne of skulls. His symbol is a winged upside down torch. He is known to be quick tempered and callous compared to his twin. He looks at every deed, both good and bad, that the individual has done in their time among the living to decide whether they deserve the gift of paradise or the punishment of something decidedly less pleasant. It is his responsibility to judge the souls that are brought before him. Thanatos acts as the ruler of the underworld. He is said to grant prophetic dreams, but such a thing has happened so rarely it is barely more than a legend. It is said that the old and infirm hope to see Hypnos before they die, and to die quietly in one’s sleep surrounded by loved ones is the greatest gift Hypnos can give. He is the more patient and compassionate of the brothers. If it is not yet their time, he offers the gifts of rest and healing. If he decides that a soul has reached the end of its life, he will guide it with kindness to the underworld. He visits people in their sleep to decide whether it is time for their soul to move on, or if they still have purpose in the world of the living. Hypnos acts as the guide on the path to the underworld. They reside under the Great Mountain and only rarely leave it. Their biggest rivals however, tend to be war and tempest deities, some of whom think nothing of killing thousands on a whim. They tend to be neutral to deities of the knowledge, light, and trickery domains, though they have been known to quarrel with trickster gods if their “fun” goes too far. Surprisingly, many life gods are also counted among their allies as they both oppose the undead. The twins tend to get along with nature gods, who understand that death is just part of the natural process. Thanatos retrieved the soul and put the underworld to rest, but Xolotl lost many of his powers and now struggles to regain the Twin’s trust and favor. Recently, Xolotl allowed a mortal to enter to retrieve the soul of his lost love and caused a great disturbance in the underworld. When the elven tempest god Deep Sashelas caused his own son Xolotl to be swallowed up by a great earthquake thanks to his temper, the Twins took pity on Xolotl and made him the Guardian of the Gates, the one who keeps souls in and mortals out. They were so enraged as the injustice and cruelty the demon committed in its time as ruler of the underworld they insisted no one may know its name afterward, even going so far as to kill those that would try to speak or write it (after having given them fair warning). Originally two mortals, they slayed the previous ruler of the underworld in the time of the Old Ones, a power hungry demon whose name has been lost to time, and split the duties between them. Twin brothers Hypnos and Thanatos are the gods of sleep and death. Two upside-down torches crossed over an hourglass
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