Writing Prompts For The Strange

The Origin Story

Medusa once had captured the hearts of two great gods before she had passed. These two gods were Thanatos and Erebus two dark and powerful gods. Thanatos the god of death and Erebus the god of Darkness and one of the first five beings in existence. After many attempts from both gods to win her heart, Medusa finally chose one, and in the end it was Thanatos she fell in love with and married. Erebus was furious that Medusa chose his son and not him so he vowed revenge. Many years passed, Medusa and thanatos had had a child; a baby boy. Erebus still loathing his son learned of the news. Called upon Achlys the god of poison or spirit of the death-mist. Mostly referred to as the god of misery and sadness. He asked for a poison that would kill Thanásis son of Thanatos; his grandson. Achlys handed him a small vial and said this could kill a 100 warriors with a single drop, but it takes 18 years to travel through the system and actually kill them. Then she vanished from sight like the wind. Erebus with the vial traveled to Thanatos's home, there he waited till the babe was put to sleep and left alone in the room. Erebus creeped into the babes room and woke Thanásis. Before he could start crying Erebus placed the open vial in his mouth and forced the fluid down. After the vial was empty he quickly left the home to wait for Thanásis to come of age when he would die. So after 18 years Erebus returns to Thanatos's home. There in the underworld at the gates of the dead where he lived. Inside Thanatos was teaching Thanásis, when Thanásis fell to the floor clutching his heart and struggling to breath. Erebus satisfied with his work left thinking the deed was done. Thanatos was able to disconnect his son's shadow before his soul was completely gone. It took only a second but Thanásis was back, but his physical form was gone all that was left was a wraith/ghost like mist. He had no real grip on emotions it was a voidless mist with no human feeling. It just followed orders it was given. He could speak and interact like a human, he just lacked emotion with it. This was Thanásis's shadow he was pretty much the same except he didn't know his name or how he was created. Thanatos decided not to tell him who he was and what he was because it could corrupt the Shadow and turn him evil killing everyone and thing in it's path. Instead he gave him a new name and told him what his new task was. Thanatos gave him the name Skoteinós trógon(Shadow Eater). His task was to take shadows of the living whose time has come to an end. Thanatos would assign a list of people that needed their shadow taken. Skoteinós will then go and in the night paralyze the victim rip their shadows away from their souls, absorb them into his crystal eye then leave. Thanatos then had a sense that would tell him when it is time to guide a person to the underworld, through the gates of the dead. Well Skoteinós keeps wondering waiting for a new list to complete, but since he was an evil spirit, eating shadows was how he kept his physical form and sanity in the mortal plain. Or so the legend goes, but since Thanasis was the only one of his kind his true nature, and origin was lost to the ages.

Side Note to Origin Story Option 1:
The few people that Thanatos can't bring to the underworld before morning would wake up and step into the street, but since Helios the sun god is out your shadow is suppose to reflect the evil inside you on the ground. So without their Shadow Helios's Light makes them slowly and painfully burn till their entire body is destroyed.Which is much worse than Thanatos how comes and guides them to the underworld but when he does so he has his brother Hypnos the god of sleep, put them to sleep. So Thanatos could guide them to the underworld peacefully. So another name for Thanatos was the God of Peaceful Death.
Achlys(A-fe-lys) | Hypnos(H-yp-nos)