The Mark
The Mark is a mysterious affliction that brands those affected with glowing blue eyes. Stranger still, those who possess the Mark develop magical abilities that they struggle to control.
A prevailing theory among the common folk is that those who bear the Mark have made a pact with an evil force—some even say the Devourer himself—and label them as witches or warlocks.
Causes
It is currently unknown how a person becomes afflicted with the Mark. Priests of the Gazel Ministry are attempting to divine its cause by observing victims in their care. The most common thread between all those afflicted is the voices they hear both before being stricken and after.
These voices and whispers have been given a name: the Black Wind.
Symptoms
The Mark manifests by lighting the creature’s eyes with mystical blue fire. The glow does not produce much light but is impossible to hide without the use of magic.
Bearers of the Mark also spontaneously develop magical abilities, even if they showed no previous aptitude. Marked individuals say that the voices carried on the Black Wind tell them about the "truth of the world" and that their new powers are a way to change the world around them. Unfortunately, the continued exposure to the Black Wind eventually drives its victims mad and as they lose their grasp on reality, their newfound power becomes a threat to those around them.
History
In the time before Shadow War, the Mark was rare in Asturia. Only a few recorded incidents of the Mark appear in the histories kept by the Gazel Ministry.
But after the Dead came and the Shadow War ended, the number of reported cases began to rise quickly forcing the Crown to take a position on these unfortunate souls. Pressured by the Ministry to purge the afflicted for fear that they were somehow possessed by the Devourer, the King attempted to calm the people by reminding them that those with the Mark are not inherently evil. Unless they raise their hand against the Kingdom, they are still brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons.
And so it was for several years, the people of Asturia were divided on what to do about those with the Mark. Were they monsters or tools of some malevolent being? Or were they purely victims of some unknown circumstance? Many of the afflicted that had yet to fully succumb to the Black Wind chose a life of seclusion or even self-imposed exile.
However, this uneasiness came to a swift and decisive end three years ago when, for reasons which have never been determined, three warlocks burned the town of Midvale Pass to the ground in a matter of hours, killing hundreds of people who lived there. Left with little option, the Crown was forced to declare warlocks a threat to the kingdom, branding them all as fugitives.
Cultural Reception
Cultures outside Asturia treat those afflicted with the Mark in various ways, but they are almost universally shunned. It is only a matter of to what degree the person is ostracised.
