@Alan @Phil - Premise - Possible World History

Long ago there was a tribe. A tribe that could harness the magic of nature and bring light to the world. History now knows this tribe as the first Gods, but they were far from it. They were just like anyone else... At the time...

When the tribe died out they left in their wake “mankind”. They gifted mankind with marks, that could be used to harness the magic of nature.

As history went on, Mankind forgot about The “Gods” who gifted them this power, science taking place over magic and the marks being nothing more than decoration on the flesh of mankind.

As mankind grew, they started to explore the stars, wanting to learn more about life beyond their world, doing so however, bought about a great evil. Darkness.

The Gods started to become angry. “How dare they not use our gifts. How dare they ignore and forget us. Leaving the world we left them!”

The marks, mysteriously began to distort, turning dark, taking over the body and turning mankind into creatures bent on bringing darkness to the world. New “gifts” from the Gods.

And thus, a era of darkness began.