Hades

Dread Hades, son of Cronus, Lord of the Underworld. The unseen one, who sits forever upon his throne from whence he rules over the land of the dead. No tormenter or torturer he, he offers his hospitality to all those who no longer live, and if that lot is so terrible, there is little he can do about it, for death is death. He is the shepherd of Elysium, where heroes dwell after their exploits have ended. When he ventures forth to the World — a rare occurrence — he wears the Cyclopeforged helm that renders him invisible to all.

The Romans knew him by the common Greek pseudonym Plouton, or Pluto, a word meaning “wealth-giver.” Like the Greeks, few propitiated him directly, though the Eleusinian Mysteries gave him much fame as the abductor and husband of Persephone, the Maiden.

The modern World vexes Hades so, for there is so much of it. Tied as he is to his realm, he is robbed of experience after experience, and though his wife Persephone often acts as an intermediary for that half of the year she lives, it is a poor substitute. His realm grows ever larger by the day, for far more have lived and died than yet live in the World. Mortals greedily scratch the surface of the Underworld in their search for vast wealth—the wise mollify him with sacrifice first. He is not so cruel as mortals may believe, but neither is he a kindly God.