Azgol-- Need Assistance with Keywords

I have a set in the works set on the plane of Azgol, as seen on Lair of the Ashen Idol. It's meant to be a dark fantasy set in the vein of Dark Souls and The Silmarillion: dark forces have overrun the world, with great walled cities holding out against the evil overlord and the multitude of dark cults he commands, while desperately searching for a way to defeat them. The cities are run by orders of zealots and crusaders, some of which hide darker impulses beneath the holy facade. Undead, horrors, and vicious beast stalk the wastes beyond, while sorcerers and blood cults gather in the ruins of forgotten cities and desecrated cathedrals. Magic in this world is potentially very powerful, but this carries a price to body and soul.

As such, I've come up with a few keywords that reflect this plane's flavor. However, I'm having trouble choosing among them. I have two design goals here:

1. Convey the themes of dark fantasy, "power with a price" and "power through death"
2. Differentiate my set from other graveyard-based sets like Innistrad and -1/-1 counter sets like Amonkhet

Here are the proposed keywords of Azgol.

1. Persist (returning)-- Persist represents the foul magic that suffuses Azgol and imbues creatures with unnatural resilience. ()



2. Martyrdom X (Whenever this creature attacks, you may have it get +X/+0 until end of turn. If you do, sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.) ()
Martyrdom is a good way to get sacrifice/death triggers up, and symbolizes  having to make sacrifices in the name of defeating the enemy.  in Azgol relies on death triggers and combat tricks to get your martyred creatures through blockers. Note that like Bushido, Martyrdom stacks-- this is relevant because permanents exist that grant your creatures Martyrdom.


3. Corrupt (When you cast this spell, you may put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control. If you do, this is corrupted.) ()
Representing use of the corruption in Azgol's mana to boost one's spells, at the cost of hurting everyone around you. This is in , for obvious reasons: however, it is also in . White Corrupt represents the zeal and faith of Azgol's clergy being twisted into fanaticism and a willingness to sacrifice the faithful under them in the name of defeating the Ashen Lord. Red Corrupt is about channeling tainted elemental forces through your creatures.



4. Bloodied  (You may cast this for its bloodied cost if an opponent lost life this turn.) ()
Represents gaining power from others' suffering, something all too common in Azgol.



5. Encroach—If one or more counters were put on a permanent this turn, [effect]. ()
As corruption creeps across the land, some of your cards grow more powerful. Each time you put down a counter to hurt your opponent's creatures Note that it doesn't trigger only on -1/-1 counters: it triggers on any counter. This means your artifacts with charge counters, your Verdurous Gearhulks, your Scavenge creatures, etc. all trigger Encroach. For the purposes of this set, though, the -1/-1 counters represent the march of darkness across the lands of Azgol.



6. Possess  (: Return this creature from your graveyard to the battlefield as an Aura spell with enchant creature. It’s no longer a creature. Exile it when it leaves the battlefield. Possess only as a sorcery.) ()
In the world of Azgol, the bodies and spirits of the dead are a resource to be used as people see fit. Even the clergy of Anorleth and Draganthric acknowledge the need for this, though they prefer to wield the energy of the dead instead of using dead flesh as the servants of the Ashen Lord do. Possess allows your creatures to be useful after death as power boosters: small creatures with Possess can give your fatties that extra boost in the midgame, while big creatures with Possess can make your weenies big.



7. Spellstitch  (As you cast an instant or sorcery spell, you may pay  and exile this card from your graveyard. If you do, add this card's effects to this spell. You may spellstitch only one card on each spell you cast.) ()
Having lost access to the great archives of Bel Ahgrut, the mages of Azgol either pledge service to the Ashen Lord for power or using what little lore they have left to them and combining the scraps of lore to create new spells. Spellstitch () represents the latter manner, a manner of spellcasting yet untouched by Azgol's dark lord.

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I'd like to hear from you, the MSE community, on this. My intent is to pick five and maybe save two for the next set, Age of Ashes.