#b&b loreposting

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figured it was time helena got her own post, lore under the cut! fifth pic is by my sister @pyreside-chats!

of all warren's carmine's flock, helena would doubtlessly count herself among his most devoted. her encyclopedic knowledge of the word of god is second to none, and one of warren's favorite party tricks is to have her recite biblical passages off the cuff with a snap of his fingers.

born out of wedlock to a teenaged claire, compensating for her mother is helena's full time job. well, her mother and ash, a disciple to claire's heresies and a lifelong frenemy. for as long as anyone can remember, she's labored fruitlessly to return the wayward pair to the true and righteous path. as much as claire is a source of embarrassment, it doesn't take the sting out of the disappointment in her mother's eyes, even when helena's intimate knowledge of scripture has soundly trounced ash's acrid blasphemy.

when she isn't chasing lost sheep, she can usually be found attempting to catch the eye of trinity carmine. her ego-stroking falls flat on warren's eldest Daughter, who graciously tolerates her as another adoring fan. after years of trying, she's still yet to make any headway, and resents ash's characterization of the manner as an "ungodly weird girlcrush".

a machiavellian sycophant and insecure teenage girl with a penchant for sinking to the occasion, she's a model young kohoe woman, and a shining example of the loyalty expected from a soldier of god.

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my sister's partner drew ash for artfight and let me color it in! they're @/the_red_tigon2 on instagram, check out their stuff!!

for this one, ash is pictured in the birchwoods to the north of the kohoe compound. the land up here is flat, with little undergrowth or rock formations to speak of. the trees are uniformly spaced, with papery white bark and a sparse canopy. post-exile, ash does his best to avoid it, especially during the day, preferring the clandestine darkness and varied terrain of the oak and pinewoods.

i'll eventually get around to making a proper map (although it is technically a spoiler). i already have a forest pinterest board with individual sections for the different types of woods!

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victor! jesus christ, where to begin with this guy...

victor moriah is somewhat of a mystery to the rest of the kohoe- everyone seems to recall different details of how exactly he arrived at warren carmine's doorstep one late summer night. what they can all agree on is this:

after a bitter divorce from his deranged ex-wife, victor was left with nothing but his infant son and whatever he could carry on his back. warren, ever a proud shepherd of the damned, took the duo in- a wise investment, and a double-edged sword.

twenty years later, victor and his adult son ash keep the pantries well stocked with venison and other wild game, accounting for the vast majority of the kohoe's meat. victor has climbed the ranks, over time landing himself among warren's innermost circle of confidants and sycophants. one of three Right Hands, he's outranked only by rowan (warren's best friend and first disciple) and the prophet himself.

his impish charm and cavalier demeanor have made him popular with the other church members, but no one can say they truly know him. warren treats him more like an exotic pet than an esteemed third-in-command, and his relationship with his son amounts to nothing less than loveless obsession. all at once a loyal Right Hand, a high-functioning alcoholic, a gifted shot, and an avid facilitator of warren's most harrowing impulses, it would be wise to stay on his good side.

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ash! lore under the cut

ash is the protagonist of body & blood, and the only son of victor moriah, one of the highest ranking kohoe members save for warren himself. the duo arrived at the compound in the dead of night when ash was a neonate, and ash was thrust upon given to a begrudging new mother with a baby of her own.

ash grew up lonely and unwanted amidst swirling rumors about his Pagan mother. not much is known about her, other than she was apparently a nasty piece of work. ash seemed to take after her, with a ferocious temper and cutting wit that earned him many a "disciplinary action". despite this, he found a friend and mentor in claire, a brilliant, eccentric young mother, and a bitter rival in her equally brilliant, by-the book daughter helena.

as a teenager, victor began to take an interest in his son, and taught him to hunt. combined with the kohoe's paramilitary training, ash became a skilled and incredibly dangerous fighter and marksman, trained to shoot both crossbows (for the deer) and rifles (for the Pagans).

warren regularly pitted him against other kohoe members in combat training, a move that doubled as both entertainment and punishment for the combatants. the more time ash spent with his father, the more he was forced to fight, the worse his outbursts got- and the more closed off he became.

now twenty years old, he's a broken, terrified person teetering on the edge of nihilism and despair. claire and helena feel him slipping away, but are powerless to stop it. whatever hope there is for his salvation, or even his survival, it won't be found within the compound borders.

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fantina (famine) art dump! lore under the cut

fantina carmine is the first and oldest of warren's six Wives (yep, it's one of those cults), and she was among warren's first followers. a former beauty queen, warren married her and relieved her of her inheritance to build the kohoe compound.

for years after their marriage, fantina struggled with fertility issues, and was ecstatic to eventually conceive warren's first Child. unfortunately, it seemed to be too little, too late, and warren took a second Wife just before the birth. the second Wife became a third, then a fourth, until fantina was sharing her home with five other women and over two dozen of their Children.

she's tremendously bitter and hateful towards the rest of her "family", save for her four daughters, whom she treats more like dolls. she's tried to groom all of them into becoming child pageant stars, but only trinity (her oldest) and evie (her youngest) have been successful.

one might assume her relationship with warren is contentious, but she's actually his most loyal supporter/attack dog. she takes pride in her seniority over the other Wives and her formative role in funding the kohoe. however, these small victories cannot erase her greatest failure- not counting a handful of miscarriages, she is currently the only Wife to have never given warren a son.

despite her age, she's desperate to deliver a proper heir, and she'll do whatever it takes to make it happen. no matter how many women her husband lets into their home, she'll always be his favorite. she'll make sure of it.

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after ten thousand years, here’s trinity! lore under the cut

the life of a kohoe member is one of constant work to prepare for the great tribulation. even so, you’d be hard pressed to find a busier bee than trinity carmine. after years spent trying to conceive, fantina’s prayers were answered, and trinity marked the first of many, many Children from all six Wives. she’s the apple of warren’s eye, and could probably get away with murder if she were so inclined, but prefers to use her status as the preacher’s princess to spend as little time at home as possible.

a professional Child wrangler, Wife mediator, third place pageant star, and de facto church mascot with the voice of an angel, she’s a wearer of many hats with no shortage of admirers. ash doesn’t see what all the fuss is about- she’s pleasant enough, but she’s also bossy, spoiled rotten, and altogether a bit dense. mason harbors a semi-obvious crush on her, but she seems to be the only one who hasn’t noticed. ash doesn’t know what’s sadder- that helena has made getting into trinity’s good graces a lifelong ambition, or that trinity still thinks her name is harper.

in trinity’s defense, being the daughter of warren and fantina carmine is a career in and of itself. when she isn’t oiling the gears of daily life in the redhouse, she can usually be found wandering the compound or slacking off in the Meadow with her Sister agnes- their feuding mothers have thus far failed to put a dent in their friendship.

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i was gonna hold off on posting mason until i got his kohoe outfit figured out, but we honestly might be here a while. lore under the cut!

after eighteen years of waiting, warren carmine is delighted to announce that mason delaney has been born again. while a Pagan by birth, he’s certainly no stranger to the kohoe life- per the custody agreement of his parents’ divorce, he’s visited the compound regularly since early childhood. what exactly prompted his come to jesus moment isn’t public knowledge, but anyone who’s seen his arms can hazard a guess.

his permanent arrival is notable for several reasons- for one, he’s the first convert the church has seen in years since warren discontinued mission trips to the outside. more importantly, he stands to be his mother morgan’s first apprentice to complete their Healer training, and her eventual successor as the kohoe’s sole medical professional. whatever skeletons may line his closet in the Pagan world, he’s a force to be reckoned with in an emergency. although young and inexperienced, most consider him a vast improvement to his predecessor, and eagerly await the day of her semi-retirement. even when morgan’s mentorship skills are somehow worse than her bedside manner, mason idolizes his mom and won’t hear a word against her.

call it old habits dying hard, but in secret, the adjustment has been tougher than mason would have hoped. turns out a life of parasitizing your mother’s church as a closeted athiest with no access to your preferred outlets takes a lot out of a guy. that’s not even touching how crazy they’ve gotten with the guns lately. under the laissez faire eye of warren’s second in command, he’s taken to spending the night in the church infirmary- and indulging a sadomasochistic friendship with a crazed and conspiratorial Exile.

his warm, steady demeanor as a Healer exists in polar opposition to how he is with… literally anything else. he may be a wizard when shit hits the fan, but he’s plagued with anxiety and hobbled by a severe self-worth deficit. this hasn’t stopped the Exile from imprinting on him like a duckling with rabies, but ash still finds it a damn shame- his confidant looks good with a spine.

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canon breeds for everyone:

-ash: mid-content wolfdog- half timber wolf x half belgian shepherd

mason- mutt (technically half pitbull, 1/4th yellow lab, and 1/4th saint bernard, passes as a yellow pit)

trinity/jubilee/olivia/evie-siberian husky mix

helena/claire- cavalier king charles spaniel

victor- timber wolf

warren: bernese mountain dog

fantina: siberian husky

morgan: half yellow lab, half saint bernard

sylvana: belgian shepherd