Personnel Files: Baron Samedi Part 1

A rare instance of an Extra-Hellenistic Reaper under the employ of The Bureau of Death, Samedi is not to be trusted with the handling of souls or quintessence. As such, he is responsible for the physical death of mortals, a task which is necessary, but which many Higher Ranking Officials believe to be beneath them. In his own pantheon, he oversaw the destruction of deceased corpses as a means of preventing sorcerers from taking their souls and turning them into zombies. Though sorcery has more or less fallen out of fashion with mortals, the rotting of corpses still serves a purpose, exemplī grātia, mortals would grow suspicious if their dead suddenly ceased decomposition. But his role is entirely discrete from the role of a Reaper. As such, there is little reason for Reapers to be briefed on his tasks or how he carries them out.

What makes Baron Samedi worth mentioning within this handbook is his precarious political position within the spheres of the divine. It is extraordinarily unorthodox to allow an Extra-Hellenistic deity to live outside of Tartarus, let alone entrust them with tasks vital to our operations. As such, his position is controversial, but enough deities with enough influence have decided that he is trustworthy enough, even if their arguments for believing so amount to little more than him being “likeable”. He is particularly well-liked among those who value crassness; he can be rude and unseemly at times, but so long as his behavior doesn’t interfere with his duties, (which it never does) it is none of The Bureau’s concern. Among the most prominent proponents of his freedom are Dionysus, Zeus, and even one of the Sisters of Fate. (Why even bother being ambiguous about it? They’re gonna know it’s me when they read the next section -Sis) Notable detractors of his are Hera, Demeter, Apollo. It is worth noting that, while he is not outwardly malicious towards Baron Samedi, Hades does harbor a quiet resentment towards him, perhaps stemming from envy. (It actually really isn’t worth noting. At all. –Hades)

His job has him working with the bodies of the recently deceased, so it is not uncommon for him to cross paths with Reapers. He is generally rather friendly, and will often converse with Reapers that he meets. (If one can consider obscenities and crude jokes to be “conversation”) So long as Reapers don’t allow souls or quintessence to come into his possession, or break any of the Rules of the Reaper, they may interact with him however they wish. However, they must do so with caution; speaking with him is not for the faint of heart.