The Father, like all gods, is not a simple thing. He has many aspects, and many forms.
His colours are usually black, grey, and dark blue.
In his aspect as Death, He watches over the souls of mortals as they pass from the material plane to destinations beyond. His clerics often perform services of interment or cremation or other forms of burial, depending to local custom and circumstance. He is very concerned with correct death. Those that may die too soon may be saved with His healing, or even brought back from the halls of the dead to resume a life cut short.
Undead are generally considered to be anathema, twisted mockeries of proper death that must be destroyed wherever they are found. Particularly reviled are those beings that by choice turned to undeath to escape their final end: liches, vampires, and similar free-willed undead.
Somewhat paradoxically, then, other undead are seen as holy instruments of His church. Revenants, vampire spawn, and ghosts may fall under this mantle – their fate was not of their choosing, and they may serve The Father’s ends by helping to hunt down their creators or other undying beings. Rumours persist that several cities host such creatures in His chapels and cathedrals, keeping an immortal pledge to His service.
Common symbols of this aspect include skulls, snuffed candles, crossed or pointing hands.
In his aspect of Winter, He is both the deadly chill, the hard and bitter earth that gives naught, and also the quiet and serenity that may be found in the year’s turning and the fall of snow. He is invoked in meditation, and in the name of tranquility. Peace treaties may be signed under His auspicies in this aspect.
Common symbols of this aspect include snowflakes, circles of opaque black, shards of ice or glass.
In his aspect of Lorekeeper, He records mortal events for posterity. For mortal doings do not end with their lifespans, and only in stillness may lasting truth be found. In addition to historians and annalists, in this aspect he is closely associated with many other members of the family and their rites. The Bastard’s libraries double as repositories of His lore; the business of war, logistics and oaths He chronicles with the Daughter; He keeps the tallying of the harvest and the tithes due to the Son; and even properly witnessed weddings and contracts of pleasure He oversees with the Mother’s blessings.
Common symbols of this aspect include open books, scrolls, quills.
In his aspect of Night, He oversees both the secretive work that takes place in the hours of darkness, the restful sleep of the weary, and the quiet doubts that steal into one’s thoughts unbidden. Although dreams are frequently ascribed to either The Wanderer or The Bastard, depending on contents and context, Sleep is sometimes considered the little cousin to Death, and in some places regarded with a measure of respect and reverence. You will observe good sleep hygiene, or He will send His priests to do it for you.
Common symbols of this aspect include lit candles, feathers, stars.
Guardian of Portals – as with the boundary between life and death, The Father may watch over any doorway or portal. Particularly important thresholds may be marked with a small shrine or icon, to which observance should be paid.
The Final Dance – despite the stillness and quiet with which He is inextricably bound, The Father is said to enjoy music and song, and many cultures celebrate mythical tales of his dalliances with The Wanderer. In particular, some say that songs and dances may keep Him from claiming a person from their deathbed, or cause Him to look more favourably on a soul just passed. Raucous wakes are particularly common among halfling, orcish and kobold devotees of The Father.
Other than purported dalliances with The Wanderer, The Father is most closely associated with The Daughter. Both tend towards a certain rigidity, and between the two are forged most of the temporal laws governing mortal lives. The Daughter’s bloody business also mandates at least a nod towards the deceased. The Son in his capacity as the ending of things also has strong ties to The Father, and in the keeping of records (and therefore necessarily secrets) The Bastard also figures occasionally.
Of all the deities, The Mother is the one who is considered most distant from Him. Even though their union begat the Divine Family according to most myths, they are so unalike that their meetings are more often tempestuous and even combative. Beyond official records of weddings and unions, the most common situation where the clergy of The Mother and The Father work together is in the solemn work of houses of passing, where unfortunate souls who are beyond healing spend their final days.