The Preacher started out exactly as one.

Born into a religious family, he grew up believing in his faith. What faith exactly? It doesn't matter now.

His life was relatively uninteresting, but the one thing he was devoted to was his god and nothing else. Every single day, he would pray, wondering what his god would think of him, whilst trying desperately to please it. All things considered, he was well-liked, as others sought him to escape their troubles, and he would bless them with his words.

Unfortunately, not everything would be good for him, as soon, a penilian cultist came.

How was he led to their base? He doesn't remember. All that he recalls is them telling him about the "superior" gods that were the aliens they worshipped; black as night beasts with eyes as bright as the stars, and ones that would invade the earth if they weren't to be pleased. He was interested, asking how he could help fend them off.

That's when they broke him.

They broke him mentally by filling his head with the cold, hard truths; his god wasn't going to help him, and all his prayers were for nothing. Then they broke him physically, starting with his limbs, then moving on with his face, the only part left in tact being the eye.

By the time they were finished, he was placed in a cellar. How long did he stay in there? He doesn't remember; all he can recall was the day one of the cult's "gods" paid him a visit, accompanied by two other cultists.

The beast had him lay down, injecting his limbs and face with a black substance, with said fluids taking up most of his bloodstream. It was painful, but given the internal damage already inflicted, he knew it wasn't the worst agony he had gone through.

After it was finished, the beast offered him a place with it; in the depths of space, where it and its kind thrived. He had no choice but to say yes, of course. Soon enough, he found himself surrounded by these space demons, all of them about as malevolent yet sparing as the one beside him.

He thought that he was going to die. He thought one of them would've torn him to shreds once they got bored with him.

But soon enough... he realized the truth.

They were sparing him because they chose him. They were more powerful than anything he had ever heard of, let alone the god he used to look up to. After all, how else would they command people so torturous and cold-hearted? How else would they be able to travel to space without any issue?

He didn't even realize the fluids in his body were beginning to change. He knew his appearance was taking on a similar form to the beasts, but he didn't know how or why; all that mattered was that they were his saviors. And he would gladly spend all of eternity with them.

When it was finished, his limbs were much like the beasts', and so was his left eye. All that remained the same was his torso and his right eye.

He never felt so enthralled in his life. This new body felt nothing like he had ever experienced anymore. There were no words to describe it... but what really mattered was what he had to do when his saviors allowed him to return back to the inferior planet he came from. And he was greeted with quite the surprise.

The cult needed him back. They wanted to know what it was like to be around the aliens they sacrificed everything for.

And so he told them.

He told them how magnificent they were, how they viewed humans as cattle and that only the "worthy" were allowed to be around them, and most importantly, how his appearance changed just by being around them.

He wasn't human anymore, he figured; instead, he had become something of a semi-deity in comparison to the beasts. It felt wonderful. He could hear them all now, and it was unlike any tune he had ever heard before; he always listened, taking in each and every word they communicated to his mind. He was beautiful now, and he wouldn't change anything for it.

Not even when a sacrifice had to be made, whether it be man, woman, child, animal... anything the cultists brought to him.

Because gaining his gods' trust was enough for him.

And so The Preacher smiles down at his victims from the altar, taking pride in knowing that he was as above them as his gods are.

-

In case you're wondering, the text above is supposed to be this character's backstory. And yes, it is in relation to the penilian cult (more lore coming for them soon).

Long story short, the cult has at least seven "priests", all of them male (and they come from different time periods throughout history; specifics not stated). Through experimentation, they were all transformed from humans into rather hideous half-penilian monsters. It was successful, but it's unknown if this can be reversed, since the priests do not want to lose what makes them "special" in the first place (and something that connects them to their so-called gods). They're also a lot more cruel than the average cultist, which is already horrifying enough to think about (if you recall my last post regarding them). I'll reveal the other six priests' designs soon enough, but just know that the theme naming is important (ie; "pride" for this one. I think you can guess where I'm going with this).

This priest in particular is one of the more loyal ones, having been around the penilians long enough to gain "insight" from what they're like. He took pleasure looking back at abandoning what morals he once had, as the cultists forced him to abandon them before; now he sees them as worthless. Basically he's every sense of a religious fanatic, killing anyone he's presented who doesn't agree with his beliefs and making sure they take every stabbing word of his in for their last moments, for he believes the penilians would benefit from such a sacrifice.

By the way, I want to ask something: for each of these priests, could you give them names? I didn't name them for two reasons: one being that I had no idea what names to give them, and the other being that I'd like to see whatever you guys can come up with for them. That's all I'm wondering, so keep that in mind whenever I post the rest of these guys here.

Also here's a version of the dude without a background: