Often pictured as a hooded and sometimes even skeletal Ree-Mai figure with a scythe, Prethao is, together with his sister Tahvihsa, one of two ascended Shadowspawn who, during the Great War of Shadows, defected from the forces of The Shadow, Sh'ther Kei-Sihr's prior identity, to Rencal Kei-Rhai's side, after discovering that they developed powers that could be used constructively. As an entity of shadows that isn't even of celestial nature, and that originally wasn't part of the pantheon or the divine family and was adopted into it, this makes him, together with his sister and his father/progenitor, one of the Three Deities of Shadow in Illiadian religious mythology.
Prethao's powers that led to his decision to defect to Rencal had to do with the safekeeping of souls, and the passage of souls from the material world to the afterlife, but also the act of causing deaths. This has lead to him becoming the Grand Count of Death, as well as Illiad's second psychopomp, together with Vith, the Grand Countess of Life. While they both share the job of collecting the souls of the dead to guide them to an afterlife, Vith is generally seen as the more gentle and kind of the two, while Prethao is the one who silently and indiscriminately does his job of guiding souls, while also often being the one to most often dish out punishments to wicked souls, or to end those who prolong their life through immoral and unnatural means. It is said that Prethao's true form has a gaping maw in the center of his body, which acts as a portal to a personalized hellscape for any soul that he deems fit to belong there. Another rumor is that, like Vith, he has Feda-Lide champions; just in his case, it's Type Beta Feda-Lide, who he tasks with punishing wicked souls when he can't do it himself.
Despite his stoicism, general silence and duty-bound nature, Prethao is also noted to have a bit of a soft center. He's generally noted to be much friendlier to the souls of children who pass on too early, and his relationship to his sister Tahvihsa and his "father" Sh'ther is also exceedingly positive. There's also a rumor that he may be romantically involved with his counterpart, Vith, similarly how Tahvihsa is romantically intertwined with Farrina, the Grand Countess of Nature. This is only a rumor, and in no way supported by any scripture, but it hasn't stopped religious artists from depicting the two looking lovingly at each other.
Prethao answers directly to all four major deities of Illiad, but spends the most time with his "Father", Sh'ther Kei-Sihr.
Basic tenets of Prethao:
- Give due to the dead, and keep them in your hearts, where they may live forever.
- Do not relish in the act of taking lives, but when it is necessary, be swift and methodical.
- Do not fear the darkness of death, for there also is a light within.
- The cycle of life and death is sacred. Those that intentionally pervert this sacred order deserve merciless punishment.