Concerning the branded corpses at the bottom of ToR

Reading through the old specualtion thread linked to from the 269 thread, I got to thinking about those branded corpses at the bottom of the Tower of Rebirth. Looking at Aazealh's post in the Collective unconcious thread gave more form to the germ of thought, so now I present it to you all.

What if the brand existed outside of the Idea of Evil's use of it? What if was originally used as a mark of punishment for those who broke the law? Consider this.

If the Wiseman in Mozgus' story was imprisoned by Gaiseric, why was he imprisoned? For standing up to unfair taxation? Or for standing up to the religious persecution Gaiseric brought against sorcerers? After all, as far off base as the Holy See in Berserk seem to be about God, Heaven, Witchcraft, and everything in between, why shouldn't we believe they altered the truth to fit their own needs? If the Brand were used to mark witches as condemned criminals, wouldn't it be fitting for sacrifices made by the wiseman to bear the same mark? The irony is too delicious. In short, what I'm saying is, the corpses weren't eaten because they weren't the corpses of sacrificial victims, but of condemned witches and wizards.
And, if witchcraft was an accepted practice before Gaiseric came to power, his persecution of it would not seem like a bad thing to the Holy See. They altered history (which was probably an easy thing to do in an age where they might have been the only literate people.) to make Gaiseric seem tyrannical, and so explain why his empire fell apart. Imagine how much harder it would have been for Flora to forgive and befriend him in such a situation. Moreover, if she did, how much harder for him to forgive himself? Any comments? Besides flames, of course...

For someone named "Trashcan," this is a cool, outside-the-box idea.

But, how exactly would a physical brand leave a mark on a skull that could last 1000 years? It sounds pretty scientifically infeasible. That leaves magical means as the only explanation.

Beyond that, the brand's design itself is a foretelling of Griffith (look closely at the Brand's crest). And the brand's double-helix design can also be seen in the Idea of Evil. These two design similarities are more than coincidental, and to me, sort of overrule the possibility of it being a pre-Idea brand against witches.

That's not to say the above is evidence against your theory... it's all still speculation of course.

I gotta agree with the corpses, they aren't devoured
like in the eclipse with guts. I don't really agree with some of the other stuff. Its just too much speculation. I'm more interested in the cause of death. If you look at the picture of the corpses http://www.skullknight.net/spec/skully/sk5.jpg
they almost look peaceful.  well not quite. 1. they are piled up on top of each other, in between the broken buildings. almost looks like an earth quake, doesn't it.
2. The bones don't even really look damaged. the skeletons are mostly in one piece. no lost limbs, they look like they died of exhaustion or a fire. But most likely from some magical attack which is what I think is the mostly likely cause of death.
That could either support the wise man being a magic user, the angels actually being 4 natural spirits (lord of the rotting roots ... etc), or both.

*Edit I was being sarcastic about the peaceful. I think they died of exhaustion and STD from their pagan orgies (just joking) What do you mean Walter by a demonic summoning?

Ramen4ever said:

I gotta agree with the corpses, they aren't devoured
like in the eclipse with guts.

Click to expand...

It's possible there weren't even apostles when this took place, though.

I'm more interested in the cause of death. If you look at the picture of the corpses http://www.skullknight.net/spec/skully/sk5.jpg
they almost look peaceful. well not quite. 1. they are piled up quite nicely, in between the broken buildings. almost looks like an earth quake, doesn't it.
2. The bones don't even really look damaged. the skeletons are mostly in one piece. no lost limbs, they look like they died of exhaustion or a fire. But most likely from some magical attack which is what I think is the mostly likely cause of death.

Click to expand...

So, what's your assertion? They died peacefully in a magical earthquake fire?

That could either support the wise man being a magic user, the angels actually being 4 natural spirits (lord of the rotting roots ... etc), or both.

Click to expand...

A summoning of an elemental entity, such as we've seen Schierke perform in the past, wouldn't leave piles of bodies branded. My money is on a demonic summoning

It's possible that they even sacrificed themselves willingly. Maybe the wise man had a following?