Scarlet Angels

“Scarlet angel” is a slang term for an excessively bloody corpse. Its usage is typically reserved for when one is trying to delicately describe the victim of a horrible accident or murder, although any bloody cadaver qualifies. The social elite have a tendency to use it as part of a threat, promising to "turn their enemies into scarlet angels".

It’s believed the term was first coined by Yonson Dwelley, a bard known to frequent the [LOCATION] region. In Dwelley’s journal, he recounts having passed near Burwood Field when he stumbled upon the site of a gory massacre several days past its conclusion. Scholars will be quick to point out that Burwood Field is the location of a minor, although bloody, battle during the [EVENT] War in which both sides managed to kill each other down to the man. Because there were no survivors, it was close to a month before either side learned of what happened to their respective forces. As the road he was travelling descended upon the field, Dwelley described the scene “…as if a host of scarlet angels had chosen this particular pasture to lay down their heads and rest for a spell. It was not until my feet drew me closer that my eyes were witness to the truth of the scene. It was plain to see - the visceral carnage that had split the skulls and laid out the innards of those poor bastards.”

A more macabre source for the slang may have originated in the superstitions of rural communities. Here, scarlet angels also refer to ravenous humans that are said to feed on the flesh of the living. Most people agree, however, that these monsters are little more than a fallacy, fabricated to scare the young and gullible. Studies into the myth of scarlet angels reveal that they are often confused with vampires or ghouls as they seem to possess traits of both.