Ravenous Ascension
With heart full of reverence and a belly full of screaming meat just about anything is possible
Among the Dougals there is no shortage of nightmares to threaten the safety of outsiders. They're cannibalistic mutants hail from a once-great heritage whose final fate rests in the hands of these degenerate descendants. However, even in the company of monsters one can always find something worse. In the Butcher Yards that something is those chosen by Krutilix to undergo the Ravenous Ascension.
This ritual is based off of the perverse awakening undertaken by August Dougal early in the clan's history. It involves a solitary journey into the wilderness carrying nothing but a draught brewed from the runoff of one of their abattoirs sealed into a cask with a living humanoid and a vial of August's blood. That cask is specially crafted with a hose that leads outside so the victim within can breath as well as a crank-like device on the top. The hopeful will consume the liquid, having one or two gulps per day. After imbibing the Giant will turn the crank one which compresses the space inside the cask just a few inches as well as crack the vial holding August's blood. Over the course of days the victim inside is slowly crushed to death and the giant consumes all of the fermented rot inside as well as all the fresh liquid the captive has to offer.
The concoction becomes thicker and more sickeningly sweet each day. And, with each sip of the blood-honey of August Dougal the hopeful giant warps a bit more. This mutation can take the form of boils, abscesses, additional orifices or vestigial limbs. Any agonizing wrack is possible. Once the final sip of the draught is consumed and the hopeful's body is a menagerie of pain will the final step of this ritual begin.
The hopeful will be driven to seek out a grove of trees or small pond. From there, his skin will rupture and what spills forth will form a cocoon around his body, one made of flesh, mucus, defecate, and blood. It will pulse and throb, growing over the course of several days to nearly three times its original size. Within, the painful marks that presented earlier will begin to take on functionality, utility and strength. Vestigial arms may become brutish limbs. Blisters might become functional eyes. Abscesses might sprout teeth and tongues to become dangerous maws. Anything is possible assuming Krutilix has found this hopeful worthy.
After several days of gestation the cocoon will burst and the newly "Chosen" of Krutilix will be born into this world. They will seek out August for instruction and purpose, then they will faithfully carry out that command while using their powers to satisfy their new urges. Many, however, fail to meet the demanding zeal their god requires of them. Rather than a living nightmare triumphantly tearing forth a mewling, fetal, abortion will tumble forth to live out its days in agony or to quickly become a meal for predators and vermin.
King by Matias Trabold Rehren
History
This tradition began in the early days after the birth of the Pallid King. It served as a means of creating apostles to further the ambitions of The Plagued and his herald.
Components and tools
Specially crafted cask. Many gallons of bloody runoff from the abbatoirs of the Butcher Yards. A victim hardy enough to survive inside the barrel for several days. One vial of August Dougal's Blood (or a vial of Krutilix's blood should the Plague God provide it)
Related Ethnicities
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