Taphonomy

"'For every living person there are generations of dead. Which realm would you rather rule?'""- Taphonomy."

Description
Taphonomy is a moon (1,737.4 km Radius) sized Shadow beast. His surface is pale rock with varying patches of crimson-filled craters. Taphonomy constantly glows dark red while emitting a malevolent aura.

Taphonomy is capable of focusing his evil aura like a spotlight onto a planetary body. This causes the hostile reanimation of all dead tissue within the aura, including fossils and plants. Zombies and undead raised by Taphonomy are extremely vulnerable to UV radiation, but are extremely ruthless and cannot be killed while they are under his red spotlight. Ranimation occurs at the cellular level.

Taphonomy's rocky skin will disintegrate and fall apart as asteroids if exposed to UV light for an extended amount of time. In order to combat this and operate outside of the Shadow Zone, Taphonomy coordinates with Rhizotomy to shut down nearby stars before moving in and necrotizing a planet.

Chronology
Taphonomy used to be a small and barren moon orbiting a large rocky planet and a red dwarf star in the LNC Galaxy. When THEM chose this isolated area as his best location to die, his Shadow Zone encompassed all three celestial bodies. Over 3.7 million years (300 Earth years, as time moves faster in THEM's Shadow Zone), the moon became alive and sapient, turning into an intelligent and malevolent Shadow Beast-Class lifeform. After Eurythmy left the Shadow Zone first in search of food, Rhizotomy would shield Taphonomy from UV radiation as he exited the Shadow Zone in the opposite direction, seeking to indulge his own cruel desires and watch worlds fall.

Brought to life by the dead blood of THEM, Taphonomy inherited the opposite values of THEM; mortal life is meaningless, and mortals are useless. Therefore, he adopted a mastery over the dead.

By the end of Jeff Glowvus' campaign, Taphonomy has visited ~6 worlds, necrotizing each of them.

Trivia
Taphonomy was inspired by the art of the Magic: The Gathering card Blood Moon.

Taphonomy definition: The branch of paleontology that deals with the processes of fossilization.