Chapter One: Lost In The Dark

Introduction . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . " The Stars grow dim in their places, and the Moon pales before me, as though a Veil were blown across its flame. Dog-faced demons approach the circumference of my sanctuary. Strange lines appear carved on my door and walls, and the light from the Window grows increasing dim. A wind has risen. The Dark Waters stir. This is the Book of the Servant of the Gods..." . . . . . . - Testimony of the Mad Arab in the Necronomicon.

The Children of Caine call it the Beast, The Enchanted Fae call it the Unseelie Court, the Shifting Warriors of Gaia call it Rage, the Eastern Kuei Jin call it their P'o, and the Restless Dead call it the Shadow.

To each of them it is their greatest adversary, yet an essential part of their very being. Most spend their existence suppressing it or even trying to obliterate it. Yet those with the wisdom to discipline and accept it into a coexistence within themselves open paths to unimaginable freedom, peace, power, and transcendence.

To all of the above mentioned denizens of the World of Darkness there is an intense struggle and importance to the darker side of the characters soul. The beings are supernatural, which is often the cause for the darker side of the soul to awaken, and the characters are usually in possession of a strong lighter psyche which must both resist and incorporate the darker side to exist peacefully. Although some of the beings have it easier than others, the Changelings may switch courts to balance their light and dark psyche's while the Kindred's dark psyche is a raging beast, this struggle becomes an important aspect of every Chronicle and Character.

The possibility of a stronger dark side has only been explored in a couple of games, and there is no real exploration of the dark side of a mortals soul other than a few rules clarifications, such as Ghouls being susceptible to frenzy and the effects of humanity loss. Which brings me to the question that has been the inspiration for this supplement; What if an everyday mortal cultivated his dark side? Not just allowed it to surface, but willed it into dominance. Would they be axe wielding psychotics, emotionless observers, grim and morbid freaks, or crazed looneys? Possibly, but if they had the willpower to do it without going mad they would more likely be people with the will to be less repressed, more indulgent, and more truthful to themselves. Although the potential is certainly there this is not a game about evil, but about the side of your soul that screams to be let out yet can only be heard as whispered thoughts that you would NEVER consider saying or doing. The dark side of your soul does not have to be evil, it just has to be. . . well darker.

The Dark . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . "I only smile in the dark, my only comfort is the night gone black." . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - Garbage, Only Happy When It Rains.

What exactly is the Dark? By its essence the dark must never be known or defined. It IS the unknowable, a symbol for that which is enigmatic, secretive, and hidden. For this reason the dark has become the focus for those that wish to know or at least taste that which is hidden within them, the secrets that they are to scared to look at become revealed and they become stronger for it. They open themselves up to a power that is terrifying to others. This power is as obscure as the secrets that they explore, indeed the power is one of the secrets that they begin to discover. These sudden insights are almost always experienced as whispers when the mortal is in deep meditation in a dark, comfortable place. This darkness that whispers to them seems to be sentient and many worship it as a god. It is not known wether or not this is true, nor shall it ever be, for it is not to be known, but in whatever form it takes or is imagined by the Darkened it is for all The Dark, the source of all their power.

The Dark is not without its weaknesses however. The first and most powerful nemesis that it has is the Torch of Regression. This torch is the fire of fear, fear of the truth and the madness that comes with it. It burns the freedom away from the Darkened and sends him back to the ignorance of his former self. It is a danger that all Darkened must face, the light of oppression and opposition. If it is not confronted and triumphed over it can lead to the Dawn, a total loss of the darkness within. The once glorious Darkened losses everything including his knowledge of what he was and he becomes a drone, blissfully unaware. They say that ignorance is bliss, and it is probably the Dawn's greatest weapon, the promise that all the unpleasantness will just go away if the Darkened wants it to.

The Dark has other enemies, which include the Darkened themselves for just as the dark is undefinable so are its followers. A few loose classifications may be made about some of them, but for the most part they are as enigmatic as their source. Some Darkened become ascetics, focusing on themselves and their advancement within the darkness, but these are few. Others enter the world of darkness head on, trying to change it in some way. Some help the evil, mad and other darker denizens of the world, while others see these same creatures, when compared to themselves, as pathetic attempts at darkness and hunt them down. Some are mad, some are sane, some appear sane and are really mad and visa versa. There are as many different kinds of Darkened as there are Darkened themselves.

Even though the Dark is by nature undefinable, there are a few pointers to mark the way to the Dark. Examples of favored traits of the Dark include Madness, Evil, Grim, Enigmatic, Deep Water, The Night, Shadows and Smoke, Concealed, Fear, Impulsiveness and Indulgement. Examples of what the dark can lead to include Truth, Horror, Liberty, Fear, Freedom, Joy, Madness, Power, Death and Revelation.

An Excerpt from A Dozen Black Roses by Nancy Collins. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . The following excerpt might help clarify the dark and how to reach it a little more. I started writing The Dark before I read this book, but after finishing it in just two days, a masterpiece, I had to add this little excerpt from it, it describes an aspect of the Dark very well.

" There is a thin line between rage and madness. Every human has, at one time or another, experienced both emotions, in varying increments of strength. While gripped in rage's white-hot hand, an otherwise sane man may commit acts he would never dream of in other calmer moments. But most do not succumb to passion-born madness because they fear the repercussions such actions might hold. Fear, more than virtue, holds humanity rigid within its social orbits. Fear of censure, fear of punishment, fear of the unknown, fear of changing things forever, and not for the better."

A perfect look at what the Dark can be. This passage and indeed the whole book is worth reading by anyone that loves vampires, monsters, darkness and anything else that goes bump in the night. Also look for Nancy Collins original trilogy, The Sonja Blue Collection, it is truly a classic of the gothic-punk, anti-heroine vampire.

Chapter Two

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