He was a reaper--destined to silence. Appearing in any form he desired, he could never touch the living but nor could he escape his misery to join the dead in a final slumber. Being one, he was given the power to create life or take it at will, as long as he remembered the rules. As such a race, he--like any other creature--was governed by a set of laws created before time itself began to tick. A creed, they called it. One that must be followed under all circumstances.

i. When a life is taken, another must be given.

ii. When a life is given, another must be taken.

iii. One who did not compensate would befall the status of reaper, and be forever invisible to the resurrected or lifeless. 

And those who did not pass the trials of the Reaper would be lost forever, with no hope of resurrection.