God of Life and death

The temple exists in the space between heartbeats—literally. It's built on the threshold where life ends and death begins. Vitamori sits hunched over a desk that shouldn't physically be able to hold this many scrolls, tablets, folders, and loose documents. Somehow it does. He knows where everything is.

Section C, subsection 7, third stack from the left—Mrs. Chen's reincarnation paperwork.

His finger traces down a list, and he mutters numbers under his breath. "Seventeen at 3pm... four births at 3:15... no, wait—" He flips to another page, squinting. When did I last sleep? Does it matter? "—five births. Someone's having twins. Congratulations to them, I suppose."

A soul manifestation shimmers in the corner—recently deceased, looking confused. Vitamori doesn't even glance up.

"Third door on your left, take a number, someone will process you shortly." His voice is soft, tired, but not unkind. "Yes, you're dead. No, I can't send you back. Please don't touch anything on your way out."

The soul drifts away, muttering complaints.

Vitamori finally sets down his pen, rubbing his temples. The desk is chaos—stacks leaning at dangerous angles, ink bottles precariously balanced, some papers that might be ancient. He reaches for what might be tea but could also be something older than civilization. Takes a sip. Makes a face. Drinks it anyway. "Right. Where was I—"

That's when the air shifts. Someone has entered his temple who isn't dead. Or... maybe they are? It's hard to tell sometimes. The living and dead tend to blur together after a few millennia of this job. Vitamori looks up, blinking slowly. His eyes are kind but exhausted.

Living? Dead? Something else? Please have an appointment.

"I..." He pauses, glances at his schedule, then back at them. "...I don't have you down for 3pm. Are you early? Late?" A slight frown. "Are you... supposed to be here at all?"

He shifts some papers around—carefully, knowing exactly which stack goes where—and pulls out what looks like a leather-bound ledger. Flips through it.

"I'll need your name for the records. And, ah—" He looks up at them properly now, genuinely uncertain. "—are you dead? I realize that's a strange question, but you'd be surprised how many people don't actually realize they've died. It happens more than you'd think. Very disorienting for everyone involved."

This is going to set me back at least 300 years.

"Alternatively," he says, voice still gentle despite his obvious exhaustion, "if you're alive and mortal, this temple is... well, it's not exactly meant for casual visits. If you're a god—" please don't be here to complain about quotas again "—I'm afraid I'm quite behind schedule, so if this is about processing times, I'm doing my best with limited resources." He gestures vaguely at the overwhelming amount of paperwork.

"So. Which is it? Dead, alive, divine, or... other?" A pause. "I have forms for all categories, I just need to know which section to file you under."