The Red Words

The Book of Passion

Tyler asked about the ornate lines that spiraled and twisted along Morrigan's arm. The interwoven scribbles laced together, overlapping and threading through shapes formed in their unknowable construct.
He picked the words out easily, if they were words to begin with, but failed to understand them.
"What about them," Morrigan asked.
"well," he replied, "what do they say?"
She opened her mouth, and her eyes glossed over. She glanced down twiddling her thumbs as if ashamed of her answer.
Her words came in a shuddering whisper, "I honestly have no idea."

— From The Scarlet Ashes

Most never learn of this holy text. It held many names over the course of creation: Rubeum Verba, The Stain, The Book of Passion, or quite simply, The Red. The text is not copied for posterity. It is not a leather bound tome handed down over generations, nor is it studied by scholars who focus on the strange religious movements that appear in the hidden spaces of the world.

You won't find it in any library, not even in the sections that technically don't exist. The text is as elusive as it is indecipherable. It stains the skin of the faithful, forever marking their commitment to a goddess as old as humanity itself. In the modern day, the only ones who bear it are The Children of The Fiery Lock.

The Red Maiden is a goddess of red and passion, a goddess of extremes. She is an entity from outside our existence, a place far stranger than reality. The script is written in her hand. Every word is a declaration made in her own voice. Wars between rival cults in secluded fields have been waged, citing the text as an excuse, but there is far more to these stains than one would expect.

Flesh Like Stained Glass

The Red is written in the skin of everyone who practices the faith. It comes in many forms, and no one person bears the same words written on their body. It is usually hidden, though many find it written on their arms and legs. The placement is random and occurs without the faithful's knowledge or preference.
The first words appear out of nowhere, and the higher up one goes in the hierarchy of the faith, the more they will have. Some choose to adorn these markings with tattoos, as if making notations in their own margins with colors that contrast well with the reddish hues.

The text can appear in three ways.

• Some find their skin stained, like a birthmark. The stain is colored in several hues of red. The text is usually expanded on as they climb the hierarchy, appearing overnight.

• Some find their skin hardened, thickened like a sheet of glass embedded in the skin. This occurs if scars are present in the area affected, covering the memories of past wounds. It isn't clear why this occurs, but the results are often breathtaking to see.

• One can choose to add the words manually after their first marks are given. This is done through a method of tattooing that involves scattering blood over the skin, and tattooing over the trails left behind using the gifts of The Scarlet Arts. The tattooists use a long needle, painfully jabbing at the skin with many shades of red ink in the tip. These artists have no idea what the final product will look like, nor do they know what it will say.

A War of Ideas

There is only one religious movement that still worships The Red Maiden, and their history is one of brutality and tragic hardship. Many cults have come and gone in the past, all eradicated due to arguments on the text and its implications.
The cult holds no single belief as to what the words mean, and keep translations for reference rather than practice. They hope that through their constant acts of sacrifice, their goddess will reveal the truth.
The Red Maiden has grown unbearably silent in the last several centuries. She appears less frequently to those who call her name, and the words of her holy text expand just as rarely. The 1920s saw a massive conflict, a schism that claimed the lives of nearly 300 men and women, and all due to ideological differences around these strange markings.