THE SAINTS OF THE CORROSION
When the demons crawled upwards from the fissures in the crust, there were those who were terrified. They rebuked the demons, the Ministry labelling them as a scourge and flesh-eating plague. But in a nation so ravaged by the gods where devotions were tested and laid down, an empty void filled their woesome hearts. And some, seeking greater servitude, turned to the Corrosion itself.
Already before, the Corrosion was a sickly substance. The flesh and blood of demons captured within iron shells, the black ichor stained and rusted metals. Only gold, the substance claimed by the Aurumics as their holy alloy, could not be stained by the curse. So, the restless demons could only feast upon the rust torn from the iron foundations and the flesh of humanity. But there were those who worked in tandem with the Corrosion and, by sacrificing their own Luminessence, allowed the Corrosion to take root within the other earthly elements. And so, those who forsook their own humanity became Saints of the Corrosion, forever cursed followers to be anguished by the Aurumic Church.
Saints of Divinity: Conquest, War, Famine, Death
The angels were once thought as perfect and their golden flesh intangible unless by divine weapons. But the Horsemen, absorbing the Corrosion into their sacred forms willingly, caused the wills of the Aurumics to be affrighted that their immortality may one day end.
Saint of Cinders: Vulcos the Crippled
Vulcos, a woman crippled at birth, was abused and impoverished by her village as she grew deformed. Yet, all she did know was the art of firecracker-making which helped ward of demons. As the guardsmen delivered a slain demon into the village, she was tasked into the morgue to melt down and cremate the corpse. But an insatiable hunger grew within her and she feasted upon its Corroded liver. The venomous blood festered within her and the townsfolk cremated her alive, believing she was possessed. But black flames smouldered out of the body and thus the demons harnessed the fire.
Saint of the Mind: Melashker, Demon of Envy
Melashker had nightmares of the sheer power of the Aurumics and the Circlet. Ceasing the terrors, he plunged a barb of gold into its mind. Yet, in lobotomized bliss, it was the first demon to achieve higher thought. The Corrosion plagued the minds as well, turning those depraved as they were exposed to it. Melashker, meanwhile, now had dreams of ascending to angelhood.
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Saint of Decay: Rotcio of the Woodsworn
A puppet crafted from the Shrouded Goddess of Deceit, Hiebrief, the jester wished more from life than his mundane serfdom. So, within the darkness of night, the Grand Beast approached Rotcio. Rotcio's silver tongue worked as he condemned his entire race to be the first fauna vessels of Corrosion, servants to the Beast. In exchange, the clown received immortality as a black stain on all oak. Thus, the Woodsworn's fates were shackled by the Ring of Rotcio.
Saint of the Depths: Ignoble Wastrillith
An unloved child was drowned in the sea by an unruly king. Yet, on the shore, its corpse was found by a demon who breathed life into its stillborn heart once more. Carrying the child, the infernal creature dove into waves it could not survive and thrashed its way to the king's estate. It then lurched onto the king and drowned him in the same waters, all three becoming the Ignoble Wastrillith.
Saint of Serpents: The First Downcast
A nameless sinner once offended the Ministry and for that he was to be executed. No matter how the friends and family despaired, the officials showed no heart and cast the man into a deep chasm. Blindly searching the cavern, bloodied from the fall, it is fabled he had witnessed something undivine deep below the surface. The fractured creature wept alongside him and, when he returned the next eve, his human skin was covered in metal, serpentine threads.
Saint of the Wild: The Grand Beast
The aspects of animals were seen as blessed, the natural creations of the Aurumics. The metallic monsters were products of the deep minerals, lumpy and impure. But the Grand Beast defied the gods with its unsightly appearance and, vowing to upend the capital city as a whole, was viewed as the deadliest demon of them all. Its divine attributes were what alone inspired its blasphemous strength.
