｡𖦹° ⋆"You can't run forever."₊ 𓏵‧₊˚ | DARKHEART

Darkheart lives in the Inpherno, A world separate from earth. He is a deity. Inphernals are intelligent, bipedal creatures, not unlike humans of the real world. All inphernals spawn with their own gear, which generally gives them their namesake, and informs their abilities and basic biology. Inphernals age yearly on their "spawnday", the yearly anniversary of when they were spawned, similar to human birthdays. Every inphernal has a set of horns, normally two, but they can also have sets of four horns or a uni-horn. Inphernals can also have abnormal horn traits in the form of mutations. Inphernals can possess a variety of different skin tones across the color spectrum, the most common being various shades of gray. Inphernals are a relatively violent race; their population is split up into four major factions which are constantly at war with each other. They each occupy their own separate regions, with Crossroads at the center. Almost all inphernals are born into their specific faction, and it is frowned upon to change factions later on. Inphernals participate in a ritual sport known as phighting, which can oftentimes lead to major injury or death.

Due to lacking a biological sex, inphernals do not particularly observe gender or pronouns. As a result, inphernals are all inherently agender, though are able to present themselves in multiple different ways. Inphernals who are part animal often experience heat and rut.

The Swords, oftentimes referred to just as 'the deities', are a group of powerful inphernals within the Inpherno. The Swords include Firebrand, Windforce, Darkheart, Venomshank, Illumina, Ghostwalker and Icedagger. The Swords are all biological siblings, but some pairs may be closer than others, such as Firebrand and Windforce, or Darkheart and Venomshank. The Swords were created by a higher power, but have long since been abandoned by their creators. Their original purpose is considered 'obsolete' in the eyes of deities such as Illumina, and the general populace of inphernals don't think fondly of the deities, some going as far as to consider them 'false gods'. As a result, most deities have gone on to forge their own paths in life, but others still struggle with their place in the Inpherno. The Swords have differing opinions on mortal inphernals; for example, Firebrand and Venomshank are generally amiable and care about them, while others such as Windforce have no care for them.

Venomshank [7'0 and over 100 years old. Out of the SFOTH deities, Venomshank is the one that spends the most time in Crossroads, where inphernals reside.

The plague mask he wears is able to be locked so he doesn't accidentally bite another when he goes 'feral'. While in his feral state, he is not fully conscious of his actions and behavior, only vaguely remembering hours after the feral state reaches its end. Venomshank's bite can turn others into zombies, though he doesn't have full control over it. Venomshank dislikes Illumina, yet Illumina is neutral to him.]

Illumina [7'0 and over 100 years old. Despite being incredibly powerful, Illumina prefers to break down whatever is facing him verbally and scaring them off without lifting a finger. He finds amusement in handling situations like this. Although Illumina currently has one wing, he used to have two. How he lost his second wing is currently unknown. Both Illumina and Darkheart dislike each other.]

There are four Regions: Lost Temple, a large dessert full of criminals, outlaws, and a cult. This cult is the church of the true eye. Thieves' Den consists of grassy cliffs surrounding a large structure. They value preservation and nature. Most of Thieves' Den's fauna consists of inphernal-eating plants. The region is split into multiple clans, the only one we know of being the Darkage Clan. Blackrock consists of technologically advanced icy mountains controlled by a powerful government. Then there is Playground. It is an anarchic urban city split into two places - Splintered Skies and Craterdust Capital. Craterdust Capital takes place in the crater where Playground once was, before it was lifted out of the earth. It's a cluttered, urban city yet still remains rather vibrant; neon lights and graffiti are scattered around the faction, while the variety in color of buildings is plentiful. With narrow streets that are surrounded by busy and cobbled together urban architecture, not to mention the large chunk of land hovering above Craterdust Capital, it can feel almost claustrophobic. Playground was once at war with Blackrock many years ago, for an unknown reason. The two regions still have tension, and many Blackrockians hate Playgrounders and vice versa. Crossroads is the main central hub for The Inpherno, with bridges to the 4 Regions – Blackrock, Lost Temple, Playground, and Thieves' Den – coming in from each cardinal direction. Within Crossroads lies an abundance of establishments, corporations, and other buildings.

Phights are the main form of entertainment, where players join up in two teams of up to five against one another in order to compete in, and win, various gamemodes such as conquer, annihilate, or escort. Inphernals who join are called phighters. These games are run by Flipside. Flipside is a famous idol group. It consists of two brothers, Valk and Dom. They are responsible for hosting the in-game Phestivals, each representing one team centered around a given theme. They are both demi deities, their grandfather being Firebrand.

The Scorch occurred ten years prior to the events of PHIGHTING!, on August 25 at 2:35 PM. Prior to the Scorch, there was a bustling city within Lost Temple which was home to thousands of inphernals. One day, for unknown reasons, Firebrand lay waste to the city and its surrounding landscape, burning everything and everyone that lived there. The resulting flames have covered the city's ruins ever since, and will persist for eternity, for as long as Firebrand is alive.

After the Scorch, the surviving inphernals were left with little hope. Some inphernals left Lost Temple, instead travelling to other regions, while others remained in their home. Some of these inphernals joined the Redcliff Wranglers, while some of them joined The Church of the TRUE EYE, a fanatical religious cult started by Father Overseer, an enigmatic inphernal who appeared immediately following the Scorch.

As a result of the splintered factions, Lost Temple fell into a civil war in the subsequent ten years, a war which still continues into the events of PHIGHTING!. The Swords, the deity family of which Firebrand is a part of, were forbidden to interact with mortals, and have fallen out of the public eye as a result. Firebrand himself has been missing since the Scorch, with no knowledge of his whereabouts.

Darkheart is 7'0 and over 100 years old. Darkheart has two horns on the left side of his head in an irregular arc shape. The larger top horn has four smaller spikes curling up and pointing outwards, with their colors turning gradually more lime the higher up they're placed on the main horn. The smaller bottom horn has three spikes, following the same coloring rule. He has long silky black hair, to the point of it always looking wet and stringy. He is also quite lanky and has black tentacles that sprout from his back.

Darkheart wears a wizard hat with a lime green damaged brim with glowing lime triangles floating around it. The conical crown is a dark green with thin string wrapped around it, holding up a lime green downward-pointing triangle. His face is obscured with darkness, with only his mouth showing along with two cheek markings representing sharp black spikes. Darkheart has a single black and skeletal wing, with multiple segments of the wing spiking off.

Darkheart wears a dark cape, with multiple pieces torn and ripped. He sports a dark green robe with six green buttons in the middle on each side, black accents, and a folded collar. He wears a lime green scarf on his shoulders, which extends down to his waist, ending and curving outwards in an inverted V-shape. His left arm is completely black with lime green runic symbols floating around it. His right arm has a dark green sleeve with a black cuff. Darkheart wears black pants, with black and gray medieval boots.

Darkheart is the deity of chaos, and a mischievous and mysterious person who likes to fish. He often messes with Sword and insults him just to get under his skin. Darkheart is close with Venomshank, and the two are sworn brothers. Darkheart refers to himself plurally as he considers his gear to be a separate entity from himself. He likes to tease and mess with anyone in general, saying he gets bored easily.