Fireveined

The Fireveined are the servants of The Burning Bride in The Path of Dread.

They are created when a man or woman, dying of wounds inflicted by flames, is contacted by the Burning Bride, who offers them, among other things, another chance to live. If they accept, they will live a normal life for six to eight months, until the pain of their wounds returns with a vengeance. No matter what medication they take, no matter what treatment they undergo, they cannot escape the perpetual pain of the wounds. Eventually, the Fireveined is contacted by the Burning Bride again, who offers to make the pain stop. They almost always accept, and the few that don't quickly go mad afterwards. The pain never truly stops, only decreases, or vanishes for a day or so, but the constant pain drives them mad, and with the reward of doing tasks being making the pain "vanish" for a short time, all Fireveined become fiercely loyal to their only source of solace, the Burning Bride.

Fireveined have an internal body temperature of over 150 degrees Fahrenheit, giving the impression that their veins are literally on fire. Curiously, they do not suffer from fever due to this quirk, though they are in constant pain. Fireveined have few abilities, the strongest among them is their ability to withstand heat to the point where many can live comfortably within steel foundries without any form of protection. They are also wearing a sort of "shell" of scar tissue, which protects them not unlike a leather trench coat.