The Wetworks and The Pilgrimage

Blood and Roses

“Liz, you do know what you're doing, yes?” Morrigan asked.
“I do.” she replied. Morrigan heard clanging and rushing liquid in the pipes. Lisbeth's breath shook.
“Lisbeth. Get out of the tub.” Morrigan said. She forced the words out, as if saying them faster would change the outcome. The deed was done.
Lisbeth replied, "I aim to be a rose in The Maiden’s garden.”
“You don't even know what that means,” Morrigan said. She heard a quiet ripple, a single gasp of air as Lisbeth was pulled under, and the blood overflowing out of the tub and onto the pristine, white floor.
Morrigan didn't bother to check. She sat in a silence so strong her ears were ringing. Even if she reached in to search for a body, she knew nothing could be found. Morrigan shuddered, a presence filling the room. She waited, standing perfectly still. She listened for a sound, anything that told her she needed to defend herself.
She then felt the brush of fingers against her cheek. She flinched, tripped over the chair, then fell. When she hit the ground she kicked herself back as far as she could against the tile.
She stopped. They were small, dainty hands. They were not like Lisbeth's. These were not the hands of an older woman. They always said The Maiden collects her roses personally.
Morrigan heard a voice in her mind, whispered in a language impossible to understand, but understood all the same.
Run.

— From The Scarlet Ashes

The pilgrimage is a ritualistic journey taken by The Children of The Fiery Lock. There are numerous forms of the pilgrimage, each with varying degrees of danger associated with them. These different forms coincide with the specific purpose of the pilgrimage. This purpose varies depending on the specific needs and goals of the one taking the pilgrimage.

In the case of The Fiery Lock, the only time a pilgrimage is taken is when a new Matron is chosen to be the head of the movement, or when a prospective member attains the title of Streghe Rossa. While the title is more of a formality, only a red witch can use the gift of The Red Miles in the modern day doctrine of the cult.

The pilgrimage is different for everyone who takes it. The pilgrim must pass numerous trials that test various limits of their resolve. One trial may test a pilgrim's combat prowess while another tests their ability to resist temptations or pain. Others still have shown to test intellect, endurance, leadership, and faith.

Fun fact: Red Hair

Those who do not have red hair can actually trick this ritual by dying their hair red. On rare occasions, those who do not have red hair from birth, or through dying it, have succeeded in a pilgrimage.

If they travel back to reality from the Wetworks, their hair will be red permanently. By entering the Wetworks you immediately gain the attention of the red maiden, who knows you are not supposed to be there.
What's curious is how she handles it. She doesn't seek to kill you, instead she watches. By successfully surviving, the maiden embeds a fraction of herself into you, thus giving you naturally red hair.

The Pilgrimage

The pilgrimage involves physically traveling to The Wetworks, the domain of The Red Maiden. Travel to the Wet Works would be relatively safe, but due to the fact that you are physically entering an alternate plane of existence, the dangers are significantly higher. The upside is the rewards are just as high. With your physical vessel present, those who succeed in the pilgrimage can be properly molded and shaped by The Maiden herself in such a way that allows them to utilize her many gifts.
Once you enter this other plane, your pilgrimage has already begun. Where you emerge when you find yourself on the other side varies, as your central goal will often determine the path you need to follow. If one is seeking to gain a specific ability, for example, they are more likely to end up in an area where trials can be set up that would fit someone seeking that ability.

To go on the pilgrimage in the modern day, one must first obtain permission from their matron. This is a recently established rule, a means of controlling the distribution of power among the Matron, and those one step lower in the hierarchy who are referred to as ladies-in-waiting. In truth, one can engage in the pilgrimage at any point in time, if they so choose.

The Ritual

Whether you have permission or not, there are many things that you will need to begin your journey. The first is a large container. Long ago these containers were built of silver oh, but a modern bathtub is more than sufficient. The next thing one needs is blood. This blood must be willingly given and purified before use. How much will be needed depends on how much their body will displace when they sit in the container, though it will usually be somewhere between 40 and 70 gallons.

The pilgrim must use a ceremonial knife carved from bone. This knife will be used to carve a series of symbols into the skin. These symbols represent the purpose of the pilgrimage being taken, and conditions under which the pilgrim will be removed and pulled back into physical reality, if any can be applied. This is usually done to protect the pilgrims should they not be prepared for what they face.
Note: if one is taking the pilgrimage to become a matron, these conditions will not be followed no matter how many you apply. Becoming a matron must be a matter of life and death.
Once the symbols have been carved into the skin, and the pilgrim is sitting in the container filled with the purified blood, the process of transporting the pilgrim is already underway. What a curse can be found in the quote at the opening of the article. The remainder of this article cannot be done in any linear form. Once a pilgrim begins their journey, there's no way to determine what trials they will face.

Purified Blood

The purification process involves removing any impurities in the blood itself ranging from bacteria or other forms of contagions and bloodborne pathogens, to foreign contaminants as well as biological contaminants found in an unhealthy subject's blood. This is done through The Scarlet Arts and can take weeks to accomplish.

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Back to Reality

When the pilgrim returns, whether they are successful or not, they will burst from the container that was filled with blood. The blood will be gone, absorbed into the Wetworks. The carvings they've made in their skin will be completely healed as if they never existed.
If they succeed, as a peculiar side effect, they will experience weeks of heightened senses. The slightest touch could cause manic outbursts as the cultist loses themselves in the sensation. Pain of any kind is multiplied tenfold.
These cultists usually spend the time in isolation. This is for their mental health, as pain and suffering can damage the mind in this state. It also gives them the opportunity to explore these sensations until they gradually fade away.

The Wetworks

The following lists a series of trials gathered from experiences and various texts kept by the faithful over the millennia. These accounts are used to prepare pilgrims for what they may face. Many trials remain unrecorded due to the pilgrims meeting a tragic end.

by Cassi Josh

The Red Dive

Many who take the pilgrimage emerge on the edge of the Wetworks. They are spat out, finding themselves in a vast rolling sea of red. The Red Dive requires edurence, strength, and most of all, submission.

When you emerge you will see the edge of the island. You will want to immediately begin heading towards its black sands… don't. The waves will do this work for you, constantly rushing to the island's shore. Your effort is best focused on keeping above the viscous ocean.

Blood is thicker than water, and the waves can force you under just as easily as they can carry you to relative safety. Submit to the waves, your focus bent on keeping your head above the surface and ensuring your mouth and nose won't get covered. This is hard work, but if you endure, you will not only reach the shore, but avoid drawing in the many unknown entities that are said to dwell below.

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The Black Sands

Some begin at the black sands, while others must fight The Red Ocean to reach it. The black sands are a soft, beautiful landscape. The shores of the island are large. It consists of rolling dunes of black sand, as the name suggests, and the moment you feel it on your skin, you will be overcome with its silky texture. you will want to stop, to rest along the black shores… don't.
While catching your breath and keeping your wits about you won't lead to any dire consequences, the longer you stay, the softer the sand becomes; the looser it becomes. You will sink, slowly, but surely. Those who have succumbed to the soft embrace still lay buried underneath, and they want nothing more than for you to join them.

If the sands don't take you, what would normally be a simple walk to your next trial will become a difficult task of fighting against collapsing dunes with the arms of these beneath desperate to show you what eternal comfort feels like. This trial tests one's resolve. It tests just how determined you are to accomplish your goal.

by Rui Silvestre

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by Tom Morel

The Razor Briar

Razor Briar is a beautiful thorned plant with a rose like flower of black, red, and copper colors. The plant is toxic, its thorns can penetrate steel, and here you are standing before it with no clothing at all.

The Razor Briar is hazardous, but your death will be painless. The toxic thorns will sting, but this poison will remove the ability to feel pain, rewiring your brain to perceive it as pleasure. A high enough dose will kill, but a low enough dose can actually make your journey easier and less painful. Be cautious. Pain is a fundamental mechanism necessary for survival. Without pain, some hazards encountered may confuse the pilgrim, who has no other way of determining if something is causing damage.
Some are clever enough to realize the language of the rules associated with the ritual do not forbid a weapon. They can fashion clothing from flora and fauna they kill. Native life is immune to most of the hazards that occur in the Wet Works. Many of them thrive in these conditions and need these conditions to live.

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The Roses in the garden

Roses of The Briar were the most faithful and loyal servants of The Maiden. As a reward, they were not only offered a place in The Maiden's domain, but we're transformed into something new. They are the only trial guaranteed to be encountered as they meander around the palace at the center of the island, a region referred to as the rose garden.

These creatures exist all over the Wet Works and tend to the native flora and fauna. Just as the maiden cultivates her roses, so too do her roses cultivate their own personal Eden. It is thought that they create life, producing new kinds of flora and fauna that live in their territory.
The most common place to find a Rose of the Briar is in a large thicket of Razor Briar. These creatures are not always hostile, nor are they always friendly. They are often unpredictable but they are sentient and can be talked to, reasoned with, and bribed.

by Alina Sofia

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by PX

Crimson Rains

It often rains in the Wetworks, and most of the time it is not a hazard, though it might be disturbing. The sky rains blood in the Wetworks, and sometimes this blood can carry with it properties that are dangerous.
Occasionally, the rain will burn your skin like acid. Other times, it soothes and heals. Sometimes it hails, spikes of bloody ice that tumble to the strange world below. It is not known how many qualities the rain can take, but it is varied and often dualistic in nature. This is to test one's adaptability. Seeking shelter is vital until you know whether the rain is dangerous.
If it is dangerous, one should remain in shelter until they see one of the more striking sights in the cloudy sky above. The rain may still be falling, but if one sees an upside down rainbow consisting of infinite shades of red, they not only know the danger has passed, but the Wetworks will begin to radiate benevolence. What once was hostile will be docile; what once was toxic, will bring empowerment.

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Lost Lovers

There are others like you in The Wetworks. They come in physical and astral forms, but these fellow servants came and either by choice or circumstance, decided to stay. They encountered this place, learned its secrets, and fell in love with it.

They offer their knowledge, their help, and their hospitality to any and all pilgrims who meet them. Be careful, though, for even these wayward souls, these lost lovers, could be a trial in and of themselves. It can happen at any time. The maiden speaks to them directly, directs them to test some element of your character, and what was a friend, the only one you had in a place so strange, becomes another obstacle.

It doesn't often happen, but it will if you spend too much time with a lost lover. Don't misunderstand. They don't do it out of malice. They love you, in every way, and desperately want you to succeed. Some can be merciful, if you're lucky.

by Daniel Apodaca

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by Quentin Keller

Red Witches

Le Streghe Rosse, the red witches, are members of the faithful who excel are using The Scarlet Arts in combat. They often travel to The Wetworks for one reason or another. The maiden may speak to them, just as she does to a lost lover, and ask them to hunt you if you waste too much time. The red witches rarely wish to kill, though accidents do happen. They push you forward, refusing to allow a moment of peace to last long. A red witch is more likely to enter The Passion, an altered state of mind that comes from The Scarlet Arts. If they do, your life is on the line. They can't help themselves in this state. If you choose to fight, remember this: they won't play fair. They are a trial of punctuality, of devotion, and they take it seriously.

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Flora And Fauna

The native life of the Wetworks are dangerous, but docile. Most will not attempt to bother those they come across. Some are predators, but even they will live and let live if they encounter a pilgrim. While not a trial in and of themselves, the native life is a constant danger, as well as a constant opportunity.

Pilgrims must make choices on what to engage and what to leave alone. Knowledge of the ecology is a decisive advantage, though no texts on the subject have been written. They exist to exist, these native creatures. They have a choice when it comes to being part of the circle of life, the maiden wouldn't have it any other way.
Many are attempts at mimicking life found in reality in an attempt to improve The Maiden's relationship and interaction with her followers, but others are a product of alien design. They are creatures that are only possible when an eldritch goddess decides to explore the concept of creativity.

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The Vineyard

The Maiden's Palace is built on a bed of obsidian, surrounding it is her rose garden, and just beyond that is The Vineyard. A test of bravery, of acceptance and stoicism, The Vinyard has claimed more pilgrims than any other trial. Each of these lost souls can still be found there, trapped in an endless loop of life, death, and rebirth. When you find The Vineyard, you will notice fields and fields of red mounds.

Closer inspection reveals these mounds to be cocoons of red hair that entomb the pilgrims who give in, accepting to the Vineyard's promise. If you look even closer, under the bodies lying on the obsidian ground, you will see tiny red fibers attached to their skin. The fibers extract blood, recycling it in an endless loop. The bodies produce blood, which many believe is the source of the red ocean.
What is the promise? Besides eternal life, the pilgrims are also placed in a coma. This coma comes with a dream; an endless dream that allows them to live every imaginable fantasy, every life possible, and when their life is over, the are reborn. They build new worlds or simply live countless lives. Some go back, relieving their own life but with different choices just to see what would happen. They will live in an endless simulation in their head for eternity, some choosing to forget it isn't real.

Goals: Wonders and oddities

Reliquaries

Reliquaries are shrines built to honor the most loyal, noble, powerful, or simply the most loved of The Maiden's past cultists. These shrines come in many shapes and sizes, some being as simple as an obsidian monolith with engravings depicting the life of the subject while others house the body and/or possessions of the subject. Some pilgrims come to seek these relics, gaining wisdom, power, and recovering artifacts for use by the cult.

The Blooded Saints

Numerous statues of various composition litter the Wetworks. They are randomly, and sometimes nonsensically placed. These are the watchers. the aforementioned reliquaries are all that's left of their physical forms. They have become Blooded Saints, once cultists who came to The Wetworks, and overtime, their services received even more rewards.


The Maiden took these loyal few, and ripped their flesh from their soul. They expanded, bot just living in The Wetworks, but became a part of it. They lamented at their new existence, unable to express their love or apply their wisdom. They couldn't help pilgrims nor could they chat with lost lovers or others who pass through. The Maiden saw this and decided it simply would not do.

Her followers were human. Even as eldritch beings, they had distinctly human needs. They needed to connect, to love and be loved by more than just their goddess. The Maiden commissioned the lost lovers to build statues in their likeness, then taught them how to communicate through them. The saints are old, very old. They offer many powers and gifts, and are the only way to gain the gift of The Red Miles other than from The Maiden herself.

by Francisco Andreotti

The Palace

Should they make it through the garden, past all the other trials that may block their path, the pilgrims will step foot in The Maiden's Palace, a massive structure of ruby, obsidian, and gold. They will walk up its three hundred steps, explore the beautifully empty corridors and buildings located on each level. Then they will reach the top, The Maiden's Bedchamber.
This is the end of the pilgrimage for any and all who seek to become the matron of their respective Cult. They will see the Maiden in the flesh, and for most it will be for the first time. The Maiden will speak, it matters not what she says. The pilgrim will smile, weeping tears of joy, and the maiden gives her a gift. The new Matron will experience a rapture, the body and soul ravages as the Matron and The Maiden become one and then divide.
This division leaves something behind, not a void, but the opposite. It fills the soul, a piece of The Maiden's existence embedded within. Through this, the Matron will have The Mantle of The Red Maiden. The Matron may experience this rapture again and again, not only transforming herself into an avatar of her goddess, but becoming her goddess as well.