For generations, the villagers whispered of the Cernun-Vael , a forest spirit rooted in ancient Gaulish mythology. They believed the woods were his cathedral and the healers were his interpreters. But as the inquisitors arrived from the south, the myth was rewritten. The antlered protector was rebranded as the , a subordinate of Lucifer. The healers’ "cunning craft" was no longer seen as a dialogue with nature, but a pact signed in blood. The Persecution
The heavy scent of damp earth and rosemary clung to Elara’s fingers as she tucked the last bundle of dried sage into her apron. In the village of Oakhaven, such things were medicinal—until the winter of 1642, when the cattle began to die of a strange, foaming sickness and the sky turned the color of a bruised plum. Witchcraft, Mythologies and Persecutions (Demon...
"Do you deny the Mark?" Miller barked, pointing to a small, star-shaped birthmark on Elara’s shoulder. In the mythology of the inquisitors, this was the Stigma Diabolicum —the spot where the Demon had touched her. For generations, the villagers whispered of the Cernun-Vael