The Curse of Serpentus, or Curse of Divine Secrets is a curse that has been imposed by the
Gods onto the two most important secrets held by
Serpentus, The First Heretic,
The Great Lie and
The Elemental Truth. Most who hear these secrets will not be affected, and the words will just be heard and not fully understood, especially in a high stress situation like combat. For some however, especially the inquisitive but unshielded minds, the words will find purchase, and as they do, the Curse will also take hold, to stop them from finding out the truth. The curse has four known stages at it slowly grips an individual’s mind. The
Yuan'ti are known to be immune to this curse, as they wield secrets as weapons, and do not value the spreading truth.
First Stage
A general sense of dread and curiosity about the secrets that have been revealed. Often is expressed in a way of needing to learn more to prove the cultists wrong, and deny their allegations to oneself. This is accompanied with the vague feeling that something is wrong, because if the cultists words were true, what would that mean for the
Empire and its people who serve the Gods.
Second Stage
The second stage of the curse is reached when one's doubts begin to overtake their certainty, and desperation to cling onto their previous worldview begins to encroach. The curse amplifies the desperation, causing a strong drive to delve deeper and find the truth. This can be done by questioning many religious leaders, or for those that are more subtle, by stealing divine knowledge from the churches of
Cognitiosis. As the thirst for the truth begins to overtake them, but this stage can still seem like a normal and natural obsession, though extreme. It is in the next stage that the curse really shows its supernatural origins.
Third Stage
The third stage appears when the victim is stopped from performing their search for knowledge, by refusals to answer questions, or banning from places that hold the knowledge. The individuals drive will become all-consuming and self-destructive. They might threaten others with violence, commit crimes, or even kill to get the knowledge they want. Even previously kind and reasonable individuals can devolve into single-driven psychopaths under the effects of this curse, and the susceptibility of wizards and other powerful intelligent people to it makes it even more dangerous. If, however the individual is not facing difficulties in acquiring this information, they can skip this stage and immediately skip to stage four.
Fourth Stage
The fourth stage of the curse is achieved when one has acquired the answers, they so despretly sought. They now are at least partially aware of the secrets and lies that the gods keep from them and might even realise that it would have been better for them personally to stay in their ignorance. While an individual might wish to keep this information close to the chest, and move on with their lives, the curse makes it impossible. They have now inadvertently become an agent of the
Children of Serpentus, whether they know it or not. They will feel an impossible to resist urge to tell others of what they have found, in small whispers, or screaming in town squares. If these individuals remain in the
Empire, they will eventually be caught and
executed for their heresy, and that is how most of them end up, in the inquisitorial pyres, or forming their own cults that eventually end up worshipping
Serpentus, The First Heretic.
Afterword
From the above, one might find themselves contemplating that the Empire and its Gods are evil and self serving, that there is no value in truth, and the lies of the Gods will forever stand. It is important to consider however, that the main purpose of the Empire is to maintain a ready bullwark against the horrors of the world, that seek to eliminate all life, and the Gods are maintaining the
Divine Seal, which protects the
Material Plane from the extraplanar entities and monsters that would enslave and destroy the mortal races. The curse of divine secrets makes one destructive to that, and to wield the secrets as weapons against the status quo of the Empire, as
Serpentus does, which is misguided and destructive. Perhaps one day someone will rise above that, and introduce the truth into the dogma of the Empire, in a constructive and progressive way, that actually benefits the people that live within it. Until then however, those who try to use the truth as a weapon to destroy, will be met with the divine flames of the
Inquisition.
