Reapers are deceased human beings who play a necessary role in the cycle of life and death. These supernatural beings are responsible for ensure the soul of a person is moved on to its just rewards, and to ensure that the soul doesn't linger on Earth after death. Although there are some exceptions, such as ghosts.
To become a Reaper, a person must be touched by another Reaper's 'touch of death' that has filled his or her quota of souls. The job of being a Reaper is passed down from Reaper to Reaper, and one Reaper never knows what his quota is, until they grab that very last soul before moving on.
Reapers tend to work, in groups, and are divided into divisions. Each Reaper group consist of four to six members, and one higher-ranking Reaper who is their boss. The divisions of Reapers is determined by how people die, such as suicides, murders (known as "external influences"), natural causes, plagues, and what not. Some divisions are grouped together, and some are on their own.
Now each group of Reapers, has an authority figure. This figure acts as boss, mentor, father figure and what not. He or she is the one who gets the list of those who have their appointment with death, and he or she is the one who ensures that the Reapers do their job, by giving them their appointments. These Senior Reapers are considered middle management, and very little ever sneaks past their watchful eye by disobedient Reapers.
When a person becomes a Reaper, they no longer look as they did when they were alive. They spend a short amount of time as a spirit before they are given physical form again. They consider themselves undead, and can interact with the world around them. A Reaper is usually hard to spot unless one is looking for the person in particular, they then go move around unnoticed, unless they interact with the people around them. In other words, Reapers are somewhat invisible to the living humans.
Since Reapers are essentially people, they still have to hold down a job, make money, and live their new lives around their job of being a Reaper. Some Reapers feel no compunction to steal from those who have died, and often crash a the recently deceased place, and steal money from wallets.
Reapers are also told to try and make peace with their former lives and move on. Some Reapers will often visit their old homes and family and try to find closure. And sometimes, a Reaper will interfere with the lives of those they once knew. Senior Reapers allow this, but if it continues on for too long they will step in, and make the offending Reaper stop.