The lands are and have always been corrupted. Some horrible power distorts the environment and warps the wildlife. A vile power that must be combated.
Though corruption is an ambient energy that has existed for as long as humanity has, it has never been clear how it came about. Only how it has continued to manifest. Destructive practices such as overhunting or excessive logging causes corruption to come to being. Corruption can also be found after dire forest fires or during horrible droughts.
Theories abound but the most prevalent is that when an ecosystem fails either artificially or otherwise, the essence of the affected wildlife creates an amalgamation of souls that try to reincarnate but have no vessels to return to. Through forces unknown the soul amalgamate will force itself into inorganic materials or nearby wildlife. Leading to eye-like bulbs to form in stone, or animals with unnatural bone-like protrusions.
These are called entropic blemishes. Marks of spiritual unrest in the world. These strange features can be benign or incredibly destructive to surrounding ecosystems.
Originally humanity devised a magic to deal with this problem. They created mathematical symbols and gave specific offerings to pull in corruption, give it form, fight it, and force it into a vessel.
After sealing away the corruption, one can control it through a similar method to how it was captured. The vessel is carved with symbols, and this allows the user to manipulate the corruption into a physical form, called a beast, to be used to manifest magical effects. Such can be used for labor, combat, or even espionage. The use of magic slowly purifies it.
Eventually one may take it back to the symbol that was carved to capture it and change the physical form of the beast to be purer. Doing this multiple times allows the user to eventually create a being of purity that can fight back corruption simply by existing in the environment.
However, the beast must be taken to areas of corruption to recharge on a semi-regular basis. If not, they will enter a dormant state. It's not particularly hard to enter these areas, but as the world has slowly fought back against corruption, finding corrupted areas can be difficult.
The following are the needed materials for the symbols that summon the corruption and give it form:
Fluid - the living essence in all living things. Be it blood, sap, egg yolk.
Muscle - the sturdy parts of the beast. Exoskeletons, bones, muscle and wood.
Flesh - the elastic parts of living entities; good for magical resistance. Skin, scales, joints, leaves.
Bloom - the materials of survival. Common materials include pollen, honey, fruits and berries.
Wither - the materials of death, after all, nothing can live forever. Alcohol, bacteria, rotting substances like egg yolk or fat.
Vessel - a container for the creature. Must be made of an inorganic material such as stone, ceramic, or metal.
amandla