Corruption

The moment in which a Faunid begins to falter in their step is the moment where a pebble starts an avalanche. ​

Tumbling into corruption can be a brutal and scary process for most. For a select few, it will sneak up into your morals until you finally notice that your feathers have shed into ghastly quills and you crave the flesh of your companions. The process itself varies between every individual yet will always have a singular outcome. The corrupting and/or corrupted individual will be ousted from their community and forced to live as an outcast for their remaining life.

The Stem of Corruption

Whether through tragedy or through pure rebellion, a connecting point between most instances of corruption is the dissenting belief or trust in Herne. Through resentment and hatred of the god a feverish illness creeps from the soul as you reject the promises made by the first faunids who bargained for Herne's gifts. This "illness" mutates within the heart and spreads to bone and fur before finally destabilizing the mind. ​

The most common paths are:
- Spiritual possession
- Greed/Selfish desire
- Plain disbelief/distrust in Herne
- Homicide

Biology

Corruption is not a virus, bug, or fungus that invades the system. Rather, it is a true corruption of the pure soul within every faunid. Chaotic signals mutate the visible structures of the individual and demand incredible amounts of energy to sustain this constant shifting. One of the most identifying changes is the growth of upper incisors and canines, herbivorous teeth either being sharpened down or evicted from the host and replaced with unnatural shredding molars. There are countless other traits that a corrupted faun may have that the typical faunid are simply unable to posses through normal circumstances. Scales, talons, quills, horns, multiple eyes, and numerous other traits are all seen throughout the population. What might typically be seen as a mutation within the faunid world is simply another trait to a corrupted individual.

As most could tell you, the easiest way to consume energy is not through a herbivorous lifestyle. Corrupted faunids have taken advantage of their newly equipped weapons and will not hesitate to attack if provoked. Sometimes unprovoked. If it moves, it is another meal that will sustain their life. This behavior has made most forests an unsuspecting graveyard if the woods are left too long unpatrolled.

Society

While faunids and corrupts will never cohabitate, it does not mean a corrupted individual is forced into solitude. Communities of similarly afflicted faunids are known to reside in thick woodlands, deserts, and unexplored regions. These communities differ in their function from area to area. Northern groups will tend to be more willing to share with their comrades and hunt individually. South-Eastern groups are more prone to skittishness and are extremely volatile.

In the North-West is a very large coalition of corrupted faunids that reside in a ruined village recently named Ghosgate. The leader of this community is known as Fenris, a self-proclaimed Abaddon who desires to usurp Herne and bring his own gift of corruption to the whole faunid population. Fenris is well known to recruit abandoned or ill-fated fawns and fauns to his cult to assist in acheiving their "full potential" before allowing the recruits to wreck havoc as they desire. His goal is to steal the dedication that his followers once had for Herne and use it for himself as a shield from criticism and physical harm. While no one knows for sure, he seems to be able to speak directly to Herne or other currently unrecognized gods.