Children of Venom

Birth of the Children of Venom

Once upon a time, six gods ruled over the world. One to command water, one to command fire, one to command wind, one to command earth, one to command life, and one to command venom. They each had laws to maintain life on the planet. First, no one god may over exert their powers on the land. Secondly, if a god’s magic is starting to overtake the lands, the gods must work to undo that magic to maintain balance. There are many more laws the gods follow, but these two are among the most important in deciding to cast away one of the gods.

Water, fire, earth, wind, and life each were easy to correct. Excess water could be vaporized, fire could be snuffed out, earth could be worn away, wind could be stopped in its track, and life could be ended with ease. Venom, however, infected life forms with plague and disease, infections that life struggled to cure. The power of venom proved to be too powerful to be corrected, and, in ancient history, a plague, then called Breath of Hell, had overtaken the world and threatened the entire populous. The goddess of venom, Serp-Tox, was found guilty of violating the natural laws.

The gods tried to fight back against the Breath of Hell, and during this, they soon came to decide that the goddess of venom needed to be stopped. Life barely survived the forces of venom, the water tried to clean the venom, the fire burned away the forces of venom, the earth buried the forces of venom, and the wind carried the forces of venom away from life. Then, the gods battled Serp-Tox. With little effort, the venomous goddess was beaten, and sent down into a new realm, created by the gods, with the purpose of severing Serp-Tox’s influence on the land.

Following her defeat, the gods contacted the mortals. They sought to end any potential spread of venomous magic, so they said devoting to Serp-Tox was forbidden. They then said that nobody was to enter Serp-Tox’s temple ever, so they buried the entire temple underground, never to see the light of day again. Then they said that there shan’t be any avatar of Serp-Tox, so they commanded the serpents be eliminated. And thus, venomous magic was despised, the serpents were extinct, and Serp-Tox and any remaining followers were seen as demons meant to be eliminated.

Despite the measures to stop Serp-Tox’s influence, she used her power to maintain some connection with the mortal world. She could invade the minds of many individuals, coercing them into devoting themselves to her, enabling her magic to continue to flow through the world. Those that devoted to her knew they couldn’t stay in the public. They eventually gathered in the buried temple, as a close family, called the Children of Venom, devoted to the venomous goddess.

One day, Serp-Tox told the Children of Venom of a prophecy. Were the idols of the gods defaced, the gods would abandon the mortals, leaving the mortal world on the verge of apocalypse. The goddess says that the one to deface the idols is to bring them to her temple, then enter the womb of the selected child. Then, the one would be reborn as an avatar of Serp-Tox, enabling her to recapture the influence she once had over the mortal world. From there, she promises that the Children of Venom would survive the apocalypse as the world around them dies, and they can inherit the lands they were denied. Until the opportunity arises, the Children of Venom lie in wait for the day they can create the avatar of Serp-Tox, and inherit the world.