Salem was not having a good life so far. For starters, he was transmasculine but couldn't say it: born into the wrong body and doomed for eternity. He also had no idea how old he was. He was an anthro opossum with bat wings, and the Child Oracle, or Kin'sayn, of the Church of Et Sangria. And he had been doomed to be mute, as 3 days ago Matron Salina, the previous Kin'sayn during the Time of , painted a thick crimson paint over his teeth, a paste that made his now-silent jaws ache. Apparently, it would help him 'speak only the truth'. And now he was laying in bed, his chest bound tight with bandages, staring at a poster of Bruce Weber (the year was 1985, after all), lower belly hot and swimmy for some reason. Could Salem Massey ever get a goddamn break? . . . Salem's deadname was Salvation, although he went by Sal at a very young age. No one calls him Salem. His childhood best friend was called Chastity, but she had separated herself from him once he had been proclaimed the Kin'sayn. Chassie was angry and jealous with his ascension, and called him selfish. Chassie was human, as people and anthros coexist. Matron Saturnalia is an anthro roe deer who wears a white mask with a smile with red teeth on it, similar to the pasty plaque she painted onto Salem' teeth. Children of the Church, known as Enries, are taught from ages as young as 3 that there are 7 primary sins: the altering of the self, greed, masturbation, homosexuality, anxiety, perfectionism, and melancholy. If you abstain from these sins and manage to pass the great test of Ren Detr'j, Enrites may become runners-up for the Kin'sayn. Despite this, many Kin'sayn have faltered in their faith to the dead God and the red paste (called Ernine) has mutated them into horrific deformed false prophets called Kir Nah'al. Salem lives in fear of mutating, so he stays as pious as possible while simultaneously breaking 5 of the 7 laws at once (altering of self, homosexuality, anxiety, perfectionism, and melancholy).

After surviving a horrible fire caused by Matron Saturnalia from an attempt to sacrifice him, he lives in a small house off the grid with a young human woman named River, who teaches him about beetles and horror movies and D&D. He communicates through writing and ASL.