From Introduction: The Children of Agony are the militant order of the church of the goddess of pain. They are dedicated to pushing their bodies beyond the limits of most mortals by subjecting themselves to ritual torture and extreme conditions. They routinely practice starvation, self-mutilation, flagellation, body modification, and sensory deprivation in their quest to achieve spiritual purity. Through their extreme devotion to the spiritual aspect of pain, they gain the ability to induce pain in others with a thought, and to link their own experience of pain to those around them.