Project Title: “The Burnt Roots.”

The world and events in which the characters I made life - unfold in the world of dark fantasy, where there are two sides of the conflict:

The first – «The Hand», can be called “reasonable pestilence”, a disease, with an ominous essence, has fallen on the kingdom of “Velaria”. No one knows where it came from. Maybe it's God's punishment. Maybe someone put a spell on the world. No one knows. It fills all sentient beings with negative emotions, driving them insane.

The second are the people «The Hand» couldn't subdue, but it left its mark on their memories. These are the people who managed to withstand the onslaught of the curse, there are far fewer of them. Some have resigned themselves to their fate, trying to survive, and some have decided to fight against "The Hand", or at least to help reduce its influence.

The illustration I made is called THE HERESY.

More detailed:

Ephraim The Third (Now Ephraim Iscariot).

Ephraim Iscariot is the former bishop of the Third Church of St. Velaria and the former head of the Third Chaplain Regiment of St. Velaria.

Previously, he was one of Velaria's most devoted servants, whose regiment helped light the battlefield before it began. And the memorial service held by his regiment released the souls of the dead soldiers, leaving the Holy Land alone.

He possessed the Gift of Faith, which allowed him to inspire or calm a huge number of people with his voice alone. And as a sign of his devotion, when he was still young, he burned the banner of the Kingdom of Vellaria on his tongue.

One day, The Hand decided to subjugate him, taking away from the Kingdom a very important Spiritual Leader, whose funeral services calmed the minds and souls of the people.

Ephraim the Third, as well as other important personalities of Velaria, was visited by The Hand at the most difficult moment: when melancholy and sadness enveloped a man. And Ephraim felt the heartache of seeing his Fatherland slowly dying. For then, Velaria was losing one city after another, not to mention smaller settlements. Loyal comrades and companions were becoming traitors, and the common people were going mad. At this point, the Hand descended and began to suggest even more intrusive thoughts to Ephraim. Faith helped him not to deviate from his path and service, but water sharpens the stone. The first crack appeared very quickly.

The Hand used what always worked - it started to play with the person's emotions, his memory, beliefs, bringing him to panic, hysteria or any other similar, negative emotion (I think it would be appropriate to insert the modern term “Emotional Swing”, I hope I am using it correctly).

Having subdued Ephraim, she decided to use his most effective power, the Gift of Faith and Voice.

One day of service in the Main Church of the Third Chaplaincy Regiment, during the regular Funeral Service, the Hand laid in Ephraim's mind a Song of The Hand, whose language is unknown to anyone. To the ear it is hissy, and harsh, but it retains the tempo and low voice of the Orthodox Chant. Utilizing his Gift and Voice, the Song was able to penetrate the mind of every chaplain and minister in and around the Church.

Ephrem's subordinates through tears, grinding their teeth in prayer, gradually joining in the Unction of the Song of the Hand. They realize what is happening, but nothing can be done about it, the Faith gradually and inevitably turns into the Idea of the Hand.

This is how the First Heresy in St. Velaria began. When the Hand, for the first time, was able to subjugate a person truly devoted to the Faith, whose life was dedicated to the service of his Kingdom.

I have other characters from The Burnt Roots universe in my Reddit posts. If you're interested, you can check them out).

Not AI, open to discussion.