Saulzienne's Will
Scattered across all of Chirua are individual creatures cursed (or blessed) with one of several inexplicable qualities known as Saulzienne's Will, or "Tainted Blood." From what we can gather through referencing historical data at the Grand Library, an estimated 300 heritors are likely to be among Chirua's current Ichauri-irin population, which is less than four million. The origin of these powers isn't agreed upon, but has been confirmed to not have come from Lord Ravenienne. Research conducted on known heritors have done little to help us understand how these abilities work, or what criteria must be met for a creature to acquire it.
The ability is named as it is due to influence from the Grand Order. The Redwater ministers popularized referring to the unique traits as "Saulzienne's Will," asserting that such strong abilities, if not from Lord Ravenienne, must have instead come from Saulzienne. "Power from Saulzienne, the source of the world's evil, is going to be used to carry out his will." A bold statement, yet the Redwater ministers were right—many of the Tainted Blood heritors recorded in our time have been discovered after committing a crime that took advantage of their ability. As the vast majority of Ichauri-irin worship Lord Ravenienne, not many of them are fond of those who have it, assuming they will someday use their power against their fellow citizens. Still, certain types are valued in some professions, and therefore aren't always viewed with contempt.
Saulzienne's Will cannot be passed to descendants, regardless if both parents possess it in some form; this is believed to be a precaution against exploited bloodlines. The manifestation of the ability can't be induced or predicted either, leaving its appearance to random distribution. A theory among historians suggests heritors do not appear in the world without reason.
The following is a list of a few examples often used as evidence to support the theory that the appearance of Saulzienne's Will somewhere in the world is not random, and that their purpose is to aid in changing the course of history, on both small and global scales.
Establishment of the Agririm monarchy
The current monarch is the carthraven Rasarind Agririm III, and the only reason he can claim such a position is that the monarchy that existed in the time his great-grandfather lived in, that of King Percirra Chaura, had been overthrown. More accurately, Chaura was assassinated during a public event in front of a crowd, seemingly being stabbed multiple times while no one stood nearby. With the way he was killed, his killer was believed to have Invisible Will, sent by someone who wanted his reign ended early. Even in the present day, King Agririm III receives criticism for what happened to Chaura, as his detractors believe his ancestors were the ones that hired the assassin and allowed his family to gain power.
Redwater's Founding
The popular city of Redwater did not begin as the Grand Order sanctuary as it is now, but it was still a place that far-away towns and villages spoke of as a point of interest. There had been talk of a miracle substance distributed there that could cure anything, and hadn't been heard of elsewhere on Zeirenjier. Curious creatures from all over arrived in the then-tiny settlement, wanting to know what this substance was and where it was coming from. Residents of the pre-Redwater village that were involved with the distribution were questioned, yet had given vague answers and didn't want to discuss it further, only to hand the substance itself over for a large sum of iriyl.
Set on understanding what was going on, an observant follower of Lord Ravenienne started an investigation into where the miracle cure was sourced from, going so far as to injure themselves to gather evidence. Paying close attention to who handled the substance, the follower traced the source to a textile shop with an inconspicuous back room containing the village's secret. The follower discovered a mutilated cerelt strapped to a horizontal beam, hanging above a tub stained with old blood. The cerelt had long been held captive, evidenced by its malnourished appearance and countless missing scales. Lord Ravenienne's devoted would not allow such abuse to continue, but rather than help the cerelt at that moment, the follower left the village and gathered allies to not only free the prisoner, but also tell the uninformed villagers where exactly their cure was coming from. The village must have been under Saulzienne's influence, and the Grand Order needed to intervene.
The villagers—specifically the ones profiting off the cure—fought against Lord Ravenienne's followers, but ultimately could not outlast their better-equipped enemies. More members of the Grand Order arrived in the village afterward, officially bringing it under Grand Order occupation and paving the way to what would become present-day Redwater. Liberated from its captivity, the cerelt recovered and was willing to speak of what happened to it in that room. It was true that the cerelt's blood was not ordinary; it truly cured the ailments of anyone that came into contact with it. As soon as this was discovered, the cerelt was captured by ill-meaning Ichauri-irin and forced into constant bloodletting so its watered-down blood could be sold. Members of the Grand Order that heard this story were appalled yet astonished, for there had never been anything like that before in any other territories.
Clearing for Zaergenzeral
The Eiserne Forest as we know it is a difficult part of Northern Ravenguard to deal with, requiring a lot of manpower to cut back the new foliage that continues to grow, and keep its beasts contained within. With how hard it is to do with modern equipment, it is a miracle that enough space was cleared for a settlement to exist within its borders all that time ago. A group of average Ichauri-irin would have a hard time managing this feat on their own, and as confirmed by Mestrious Flare, that hadn't been the case. Cutting down miles of the Eiserne Forest and fighting off its dangerous creatures as they worked required the help of multiple heritors of Strengthened Will, personally sought out and brought to what would later become Zaergenzeral by Flare himself.
Indanach's Struggles
The parasite-killing organization Indanach has, through most of its existence, successfully reduced the populations of the most troublesome monsters we have to deal with, and made Chirua a safer place. In recent years, Indanach has publicly admitted to suddenly struggling with internal problems, such as partial destruction of its database, death of lead members, security breaches, and infighting; primarily within its branch in Northern Ravenguard. These ongoing issues resulted in inefficiency tracking down and neutralizing parasites—which is not a good look when it's the entire reason for the organization to exist.
A less oppressive presence of Indanach means parasites can worry less about being caught, and take bolder actions. Northern Ravenguard suffers more now from parasitic damage than it did several years ago, and I have reason to believe that multiple heritors of Saulzienne's Will are responsible, based on the specific problems the organization has reported.
There have been no cases of a creature obtaining more than one type, which I personally am thankful for. Imagine the wreckage cause by someone who had four of them at once.
Types of Will
There are six known variants of Saulzienne's Will, listed here from the most to least common based on the number of recorded instances each.
- Strength
Strengthened Will gives the heritor a level of strength greater than what is normal for their species, sometimes surpassing that of the (naturally) strongest of their kind on record. They do not have to work out to maintain it, but it will aid in increasing their power further. Heritors of this type are valued in occupations in which physical labor is required. Makes up about 56% of confirmed Tainted Blood cases. - Acid Saliva
Corrosive Will is possibly the strangest, being that it gives the heritor corrosive saliva that only burns through nonliving or synthetic objects. Things that are (or were) alive, such as animals, plants, fungi, and their derived products; are not affected if the heritor spits on them. How and why this variant works the way it does and the scope of what it considers "nonliving" is unknown. Practical uses for Corrosive Will are debatable. About 23% of cases. - Invisibility
All restricted and/or high-security areas must take extra precautions to detect heritors of Invisible Will. At the expense of energy, heritors can make their body tissues transparent, and have full control over what becomes invisible at any given time. Anything that makes sufficient contact with the heritor's body, such as clothes, held items, and even other creatures; can also be affected. About 10% of cases. - Destructive Blood
The only inherently dangerous ability is Destructive Will. The heritor's blood becomes a vector for fatal illness and necrosis if another creature comes in contact with it, unable to be reversed by anything but its counterpart, restorative blood. The heritor is immune to the effects of their own blood, as well as any blood-borne disease. Their other body fluids seem to be completely normal. About 7% of cases. - Restorative Blood
Restorative Will is the only variant that is actively sought by everyone in Chirua, and is debated on whether to categorize it as "Saulzienne's Will" due to its inherently beneficial nature. Heritors are immune to all disease and poisons, and can recover from injury that would be fatal to normal people, making them difficult to kill outside (really) old age. The complete opposite of destructive blood, those who topically apply or ingest the blood will have their ailments cured, including some that otherwise have no known treatment; it is the panacea that medical teams have wished for. Unfortunately, its rarity makes treatments using it hard to come by, and stupid expensive. Of all born with Saulzienne's Will, those with this variant are implored to hide it, as there are plenty of creatures in Chirua willing to get their hands on it through any means necessary. About 3% of cases. - Shapeshifting
The rarest and least understandable ability heritors can acquire is Chameleonic Will, unknown if it is due to there truly being so few in the world, or we simply can't find them. These creatures have the ability to imitate the voices and appearances of any other entities they see, even if they've never met in real life. To imitate the smallest details, such as fingerprints, the heritor must physically examine the target closely. Shapeshifters cannot instantly take a form that does not exist in reality, they must take the appearance of an already living being. They can, however, make small changes over many years to a form they've repeatedly taken until it becomes a noticeably different—but still derivative—appearance. About 1% of cases.