Berserker's Mark

The war god Styrix has many devout followers among the warrior classes of the northern Helgar tribes, and none are more devout than those who choose the path of the Berserker.

Transmission & Vectors

Those wishing to take the path of the Berserker must undergo an appalling ritual. The men or women wishing to follow the path are blindfolded and lead to an underground sanctuary, dimly lit by torches carried by the priests of Styrix. At the center of the sanctuary is a raised platform, underneath the exposed roots of a wrathwood tree. A high priest waits, with a simple wooden bowl and a curved knife.
The first blindfolded man or woman is instructed to kneel on the platform. A prisoner, an enemy of the Helgar, is then brought to stand on the platform. The other priests will form a circle around them while the high priest calls upon Styrix to allow the blindfolded man/woman to be used a 'vessel for your will'. A priest will break from the circle and then take the bowl from the high priest and hold it to the condemned prisoner's neck.
The high priest now presents the prisoner as a sacrifice, before promptly slitting their throat with the curved knife. The blood then fills half of the bowl, then the prisoner's body is unceremoniously dumped on the floor to be hurriedly carried away by more priests. The high priest now extracts the resin from the wrathwood's roots into the bowl, and almost at once, a brilliant flame is ignited, at first orange and red, then black as the night sky.
The blood and the resin coalesce into a foul brew and now the candidates themselves must sacrifice their own blood to put out the fire. To drink otherwise would result in immolation. With the flame extinguished, the contents of the bowl are drank immediately and without hesitation. The candidate is now merely a host for the 'seed of Styrix'.

Symptoms

Those with the mark of the Berserker do not suffer any obvious symptoms in their 'un-blooded' states and are otherwise unremarkable, except for their fanatical devotion to Styrix. It is on the battlefield where the terrible conditions manifest: a single stroke across the flesh with a blade will cause them to go into a hypnotic trance like state before violent and painful convulsions kick in.
A terrible and mangled bear then rips its way out of the host and charges, with no regard for its own life, into the enemy. Chaos and fear spreads through the ranks and can cause whole formations to flee the field in terror. While in this state, the Berserker ignores injuries that would fell twenty strong men. There are quite severe drawbacks however: the first, they do not discriminate between friend and foe. Second, the transformation is permanent, as the hosts' bodies are destroyed in the change. As beasts, they are forced to live in the wilderness, their former kinsmen are just fodder for the god of war now...

Treatment

As the mark of the Berserker is a divine blessing, it cannot be cured by any known medicines or herbs. Instead, those who wish to rid themselves of the mark must seek favour with two gods, two because one god alone cannot undo the machinations of another.

Type

Divine

Origin

Divine

Rarity

Extremely Rare