Post by Hikari on Apr 19, 2011 17:19:35 GMT -5
The small island nation of England had been undergoing some changes recently. The Wars of the Roses finished with the ascension of the Tudor dynasty to the throne. Now, onto the second monarch of the line, King Henry VIII has been working hard to bring England onto the world stage and making it a recognized power. Worries are beginning to spread about the future of the dynasty as the monarchs grow older without any male issue.
Though England has long been Catholic, many pagan superstitions still survive, especially away from larger cities. Some babies have recently been born with the devil’s mark on them. Odd skin colors, extra limbs, disturbingly specific birthmarks.... Fear and panic spread through the superstitious populace, as many infants were murdered in their cribs, occasionally by their own parents, out of fear of what they were, what they represented.
On occasion, word of similar mutations filters through the grapevine, but over the years, the mass panic seems to have calmed somewhat. Only now, as other children of that cursed generation grow to reach puberty, other strange occurrences have begun. Whispers of devil’s work, witches, fairies, and other supernatural creatures strive to explain these events. Others say that the devil did not mark all the children so plainly. That some were marked on the inside, given powers from the devil himself to extend his reach in this world. That their own children are turning on them.
The slowly growing town of Stafford is no different. Without any sure way to tell where these things are coming from, they can only deal with them as each occurs and try not to tear their very society apart in the process. The common people have many names for them, rooted in Celtic, Norse, and Christian superstition, but one “official” name for them has been heard from the Vatican, to describe these events occurring all over Europe, in all of Christendom: malefichi.