02. inquisitors of illness
02. inquisitors of illness
The mysterious origins of the disease were a matter of much debate and controversy. These competing conceptions of the affliction and its beginnings, gave rise to dissident factions and renegade cults. Each with their own arcane methodologies of treatment and cure.
The Argent Eaters were a nomadic cult that worshiped the Moon, for they believed they could deceive the plague in the illusions of the night. When morning came, they set up wandering marketplaces where they sold pellets carved out of silverware, scavenged from the shadows of the past.
The Embalmers believed that they could shield themselves from the virus by bathing in the gelatinous fat of cattle. They too were a nocturnal tribe that would raid farmsteads at nightfall, their fat laden bodies glowing under starlight.
The Marked Ones, as they are colloquially known, had fashioned a curious vaccination technique. They would tattoo themselves with squid ink which they believed contained an antiviral ectoplasm. They spent their nights drawing anti-geometrical shapes on their population, creating an entire bestiary upon their limbs.
The Order of Occlusionists believed the disease would invade the mind of the afflicted by entering its inner recesses through the naked eye, possessing their bodies to enact its unfathomable whims and desires. As protection, they chose to veil themselves from all that touched the light of day, becoming blind seers that would only converse in whispered hymns composed in forgotten tongues.