Desecrated Saint

Desecrated Saints are the most prized possessions of the lords of Hell, men and women who once were destined to become saints, great prophets or holy ones according to God’s plan, but who were led astray and fell from grace.

Many of them were once righteous rulers or religious leaders, dedicated to bringing prosperity and glory to their people. But pride, desperation or an eagerness to achieve martyrdom led them to commit some indelible sin or evil, often for the motives they believed to be good and pure. Some sacrificed living humans thinking it was what demanded of them, others carried on wars after they were commanded to stop, or sought to do miracles through magic. When their deeds led to their downfall and death, they were entombed inside unholy reliquaries, only to wake in Hell still encased in the shrine that had now become their prison.

Desecrated Saints are kept as a symbol of pride by the mighty devil lord who corrupted them. The body of the reliquary is made up of the saint’s retinue in life, as well as the greatest vanquished foes which are continually added to it over the aeons of its existence. The husks of these devout who swore to follow their holy leaders to death and beyond form the towering body of this abomination. Their remains along with their armour and weapons are tarnished and corrupted and fused together over the long millennia into a walking prison within which the Desecrated Saint remains conscious in death to witness the never-ending fall and cost of their folly.

The accretion of corpses, weapons and relics is a testament to the power of the devil lord that controls it, and there is a fierce competition between the archdevils to see whose Desecrated Saint displays the greatest splendour and prestige. As this walking blasphemous tabernacle vanquishes champions of YHWH over its eternal existence, it collects their shields and bucklers to hang about its body, a mockery of the Tower of David with its thousand bucklers.

When the Court travels to either make war or hunt, this blasphemous being often goes with them, both as a terrifying battle standard, but also a potent weapon of war. Due to the deviation of the saint’s mission to the service of evil, a dark aura surrounds it. Within this area, the laws of God are perverted or cease to exist, down is up, strength is weakness, and the strongest of shields and armour are brittle as glass. In battle it wields a variety of once holy weapons and debased relics, bringing the very power of Hell on Earth in a way not even the mightiest mortal Heretic ever could.