Gemini - The Darkness

The Darkness Thomas Østerlie

Table of contents

Chapter 1: Introduction
The Dying of the Light
Bishop Ignatio
The Eclipse
PART I –Apostles of the Darkness

Chapter 2: Cyrus – The Dark Martyr
The Dark Hierarchy
Manifestations of the Darkness
Lady Tanda
Raal the Jeselite

Chapter 3: Malachdrim – The Dwindling
Life of Malachdrim
The Legend of the Twins
The Exiled Realm of Lothren
Beyond the Iron Gate
Creating a Malachdrim Elf

Chapter 4: Marquis Lazarus – Pride and Dishonor
The Dark Province of Merodak
The Church of Darkness
The Fallen Orders of Knighthood
The Dark Clergy
Creating a minion of Lazarus
Baelorn Nereth
Bishop Ignatio

Chapter 5: Timeline of Events
PART II – A World in Darkness

Chapter 6: The Darkness Among Us
Heretic Covens
Magicians

Chapter 7: Legions of Darkness
The Order of Seven
The Urchins of Assentium
Two Estates
The Dark Children
Ordo Sanguinicus
Maelish the Inquisitor
The Thrice Cursed of Orschild
The Darkness Thomas Østerlie
The Lighthouse

Chapter 8: The Darkness in Play
Staging the Darkness
Creating and Playing Heretics
Dark Narratives
Chapter 9: Blood Legacy – scenario
PART III – Appendix
Horror and Madness
Mental Resilience
Mental Levels
Madness
The Darkness Thomas Østerlie

CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION

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Fall has passed, and winter is coming to the World of Gemini.
Time passes, and much has changed.
Fifteen years ago twilight descended on the lands of mankind. The undoable had been done, the
unthinkable been thought, and the Iron Gate's unbreakable seal had been broken.
Eternal dusk settled on the lands of mankind.
…and mankind despaired. The One had passed judgement. They had once been made in his image,
but now the meek would inherit the world. As the Armies of Darkness were to pour through the Iron
Gate, mankind would be obliterated. Divided mankind would fall.
But the Armies of Darkness never swooped over the land. Cyrus, the Dark Martyr, did not unleash
his demonic hordes. There was a short respite. While the ever-troublesome Marquis Lazarus had
changed allegiance, breaking the Third Commandment of the Church, there came to be no war
between the Church and the Darkness. The Church's warriors took to the fields, but none came to
face them. Puzzled, but relieved, mankind drew a sigh of relief.
It was too soon.
The Darkness would prove more insidious than ever imagined. Its dominion would not be
measured in land; its wealth would not be measured in gold; the Darkness only scale of measure was
in the number of souls turned to its sinister cause. Where the Church had expected thousands of dark,
demonic horsemen, the Darkness responded with unseen, covert infiltrators. Where the Sovereigns
had expected threats, the Darkness responded with promises. Where mankind had expected eternal
slavery, the Darkness responded with the word of eternal freedom.
For such is the Darkness that it speaks of freedom, promises that are soon turned to slavery.
Winter is coming to the world of Gemini.
Seers herald the dawning of a new era.
Fifteen years have passed, and nothing seems to have changed. Yet it has all changed. From beyond
the rift in the Northern Mountains the Winds of Darkness continue to sweep across the land, seeking
out those who are impure of heart instilling hatred in their minds and planting the seed of spite in
their heart.
<<end single page color text>>

Welcome to The Darkness!

This is a sourcebook for Gemini – The Dark Fantasy RPG. In order to enjoy the book you need to have
access to the Gemini rulebook. The aim of the book is to provide material for involving the Darkness'
Gemini narratives. The book deals with the Darkness' henchmen in the World of Gemini. Main focus is
their involvement in the intrigues and politics of the Sovereigns and Church.

You will learn that the Darkness is a harsh mistress; that she is like a drug; no matter how much she
humiliates you, you will come back for more in a fruitless quest for that taste of ultimate power. This
sourcebook is split into three parts. The first part, chapters 2 through 5, deals with the Darkness' three
apostles in the world of Gemini – Cyrus, Lazarus, and Malachdrim – introducing you to the web
intrigues they constantly weave across the world in their quest for world domination. You see, the
Apostles of Darkness do not always work together, despite what the Church seems to believe or want to
make us believe. As you read on you will learn more. The intention of this first part is to provide
background material to the Darkness' and to introduce you to plot-lines and intrigues that you can build
into your own Narratives. The second part – consisting chapter 6, 7, 8, and 9 – contains information
about the apparitions of the Darkness in the lands of mankind. It is about heretics and wizards, and
about staging the Darkness in your narratives. The third part, the appendix, contains new rules you can
use with the background information provided in this book.

You are now ready to read about the Darkness' dark and terrifying presence in the world of Gemini.
But beware: this book contains forbidden knowledge. If you succumb to the Darkness' lure, you will be
consumed in the end.

The dying of the light
“I renounce the Darkness and all its temptations.”
– The Third Tenet of the Church

Winter is coming to Merodak.

Unnatural, cold northern winds rage through the night streets of the capital Neremeth. The sounds of
dead leaves racing down the streets. Ferocious waves running white, crushes against the harbor docks.
Trading vessels bob in the water, the forces of nature make them seem as light as paper. The slamming
sound of an inn sign pierces the dark of night.
Beneath the cathedral’s tall belfry the city of Neremeth sprawls in darkness. From atop the belfry
Marquis Lazarus gazes into the blackness of the night. Cape and raven hair flowing behind him in the
biting winds. A firm grasp on the belfry’s railing, Lazarus smirks.
For once, he is content.
He has made his choice.
Never more will he have to bear the unbearable stupidity of his so-called peers – the greedy, fat,
incompetent rulers of the Church, the four other Marquises and their imbecile allies, the Curia. The
choice has been made: Lazarus has allied with the Church’s eternal enemy, the Dark Inheritors. He will
himself become the Deliverer of Darkness!
The ultimate weapon
“A Deliverer will be chosen, and the world will shrivel under his touch.”
– The Book of Darkness
The end is night for his kind. Malachdrim sees it every day. For years he and his kind has traveled the
human lands. Like lepers they have been chased from estate to estate, from province to province, from
one stronghold to another, no one offering shelter to the outcast elfs. After years even his most devout
men are starting to loose faith in their Lord Vassal.
They have all been driven to the point of utter despair.
Like stray dogs – cold, wet, exhausted, and hungry – the elfs are seeking shelter from the horrendous
winter rains as they are making their way towards the north again. Malachdrim is exhausted to the core.
He can barely keep his eyes open, but he knows, he knows that things are about to change.
He has a mission.
There is a purpose to life now.
Every day Malachdrim has to witness the dwindling of his kin. Right in front of his very eyes those
he trusts fade to nothingness. There is nothing he can do as long as he is denied to spawn with his Queen
– his beloved Queen whom he loves above all else in the world. How he longs for her cool touch, her
soothing words, and how he longs for her to spawn him new kinsmen. It has all been denied him for too
long.
For too long he has been exiled!
…but things are about to change. He has thought the unthinkable, and he has done the undoable: he
has entered an alliance with the Eternal Enemy: the Darkness.
From beyond the rift in the northern mountains Malachdrim has been promised that which can make
his Queen to spawn with him once more. All he has to do is to become the Deliverer of Darkness!
Beyond the pale
“The Dead One who was forgotten will walk again.”
– The Twilight Chronicles

And so it is done!
All Cyrus can do is to bide his time – to wait. The Deliverer has been chosen. The snare has been set.
A promise to be broken. His millennial imprisonment is soon over.
He will finally be avenged!
An unholy alliance
“With his flaming sword he will cut a wound in the skies and plunge our world into eternal
darkness.”
– Nomen
Alone Marquis Lazarus will have no chance of making it. Surrounded by potential traitors he will have
to move swiftly once it has all been started. What will be done cannot be undone. There will be no
turning back once his alliance with the Dark Inheritors is announced.
The thought excites Lazarus.
After years of intense studies he has uncovered the darkest ancient secret, that of the day and hour of
the next eclipse. Only at the moment of total eclipse can the ancient seal that keeps the Darkness from
our world, be broken. For some time now Lazarus has had this knowledge. Alas, alone he does not have
the men to open the gates himself.
Then word reached Merodak of another fallen creature's efforts to open the Iron Gate. Exiled the
elfin Vassal Malachdrim's kind had been driven to the brink of extinction. In desperation the Vassal had
sought the most powerful of all weapons in a last attempt to force his Queen to spawn with him anew:
an alliance with the Darkness. Malachdrim could provide Lazarus with that which he did not have: the
manpower to attack the Iron Gate's defenders. Lazarus could provide Malachdrim with that which the
Fallen Vassal did not have: the exact day and hour of the eclipse.
Tonight, an enormous weight has been taken off the Marquis' shoulders. He lets himself fall back
into his wooden chair, as the door to his study slams shut. Malachdrim has just left the room, to set out
on his long trek northwards. Tonight, an unholy alliance has been forged between two unlikely allies –
Marquis Lazarus and Malachdrim the Vassal.
Broken promises
"Never put your faith in a traitor, lest you want treason among your own ranks."
– Proverbs 1:23
Avarice and jealousy is forged in Marquis Lazarus' heart.
He will not share his power with anyone. Instead he forges a plan to betray his newfound ally. An
agent of his is already at work among the guardians of the Iron Gate. Just in time to escape the elfin
onslaught, this templar turned to the Darkness will make his way south to Ravarra. With him he will
bring word of the elfin treason. When the Church learns of this Lazarus is convinced the knight
templars will march to war against the elfs. Alone, he will have instigated the Third Elf War. With the
Church and the elfs warring the road will be paved for Marquis Lazarus to conquer the world for
himself.
…but Lazarus can sense deceit in his ally, too, but however much he searches there is none to be
found.
The first step has been taken.
Only minutes have passed since Malachdrim left Lazarus' solar, and already the Fallen Vassal has
betrayed the Marquis in his heart. For such is Malachdrim's desperation that he is willing to sacrifice
his own soul to save his kind. He will provide naught for the Dark Marquis. Once the Iron Gate has
been opened, he will let his true master – Cyrus, the Dark Martyr – through from the far side of the rift
in the mountains. At the moment of total eclipse Lazarus will announce his allegiance with the
Darkness. Without the demonic hordes, Lazarus will be easy prey for the Church's forces. With Lazarus
and the Church warring, the road will be paved for the Dark Martyr to conquer the world and force
Malachdrim's beloved Queen to spawn with him anew.
A plan come through
"The birds of light have fallen, their wings burnt by the searing Darkness."
– The Twilight Chronicles
Plans laid carefully are plans that pan out perfectly. Centuries of pondering have yielded fruits – wormridden
fruits, but nonetheless fruits. Conspiracies within conspiracies within conspiracies have been
wrought. A concerto of treachery orchestrated by Count Conniving himself: Cyrus. All that is left to do
is to lean back and let things run their course.
Soon he will be free.
Soon he, Cyrus the Dark Martyr, will lay mankind for his feet.
The moment of eclipse
"Rise through the Gate, oh hallowed one, from depths beyond the sky where the Darkness lurks and
terror reigns."
– The Book of Darkness. Part of an invocation ritual
As darkness descends upon the world, at the moment of total eclipse an ancient darkness emerges,
waking the slumbering demons who feed on human faltering, egotism and cruelty. The raising of the
Iron Gate sends a tidal of dark energy across the land. Throughout the world people pause and shiver,
sensing that something is terribly at miss. Strange events transpire. Ghosts stir in their tombs, and the
dead claw at their coffins. For a fleeting moment the bustling ceremony of midnight mass grows silent in
the great cathedral of Ravarra, as the ancient evil descended upon the world. In Merodak Marquis
Lazarus halts, then smiles evilly.
The Darkness has been let into this world!
Aftermath
"I'm not as good as I once was, but I am as good once as I ever was."
- Malachdrim
The mountains have proven a harsh mistress for Malachdrim. He has had to witness many of his
warriors succumb to the biting cold. Wolfs have been heard in the distance, and Malachdrim knows they
have been living well off the frozen flesh of his fallen warriors. The Iron Gate fell, but its defenders
proved even more devout than Malachdrim had expected. Now, after the battle, there are none left.
Yet, deceit has soured this moment of triumph.
Among the ruins of the ravaged barracks Malachdrim has come across a letter. He is still holding it
in his hand, mind reeling while he is trying to understand its implications. It is a letter from Marquis
Lazarus himself, obviously delivered by the messenger ravens Merodak is ill famed for. But it is not the
means of delivery, nor that Lazarus has had agents among the Gate guardians which horrors
Malachdrim. It is the contents of the letter.
Lazarus has betrayed him!
The implications of the betrayal could mean the end of Malachdrim's hope to spawn with his Queen.
Malachdrim has played high stakes and lost. A winning situation has been turned to a loss. It was he,
not the Church that was to wage the Third Elf war. Now the warriors of the Church will march upon his
beloved Queen, and he, Malachdrim, will be bereft of that which he so yearns for: to have the Queen
spawn him new kinsmen. His only chance of making the elfin Queen spawn with him again has been lost
to treachery. He is now forever doomed to be an outcast, forced into eternal servitude with Cyrus.
Malachdrim looks through the ruined building's roof, seeing his master's demonic hordes already at
work on the peaks above the Iron Gate. Sighing, he realizes all has been lost.
Shattered dreams
"Those who will not follow the Darkness, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare
not, are slaves."
– Marquis Lazarus
Lazarus truly cannot believe it. It cannot be true!
His plan was so carefully crafted. Nothing should nor could go wrong. Yet it did…
Now he is secluded in the bleakest of all provinces, Merodak, with nowhere to run. None other than
the Dark Martyr himself has denied him the demonic hordes that would bolster his armies, those
promised by the Dark Inheritors. Two magical blades are not sufficient compensation for the realm he
has lost. Even the position he was promised, that of the Dark Inheritors' right hand man, has been
snapped from him. Right in front of his wide-open eyes. Jealousy is flaming inside Lazarus' chest. Bitter
agony of what he has lost is eating him inside out.
Yet, all is not lost, for the Darkness has once again been let into this world. Around him his province
is going up in flames as monasteries and churches still loyal to Ravarra are torched and burnt to the
ground. From the ashes of the One's Church his Church of Darkness will rise with one supreme ruler:
him! Marquis Lazarus! If he plays his hand well he might yet end up the harbinger of Darkness', the
conqueror of all mankind after all!
Postscript
"There are two kinds of people: those who count and those who can't."
- Paolo
Lazarus' agent, Paolo of the Order of ???, is hailed as a saint in Ravarra. It is believed that he alone
escaped the Darkness' clutches to bear witness of the ultimate deceit. Fired on by his own inner drive for
power, and contrary to Lazarus' bidding, Paolo reveals all about Malachdrim and Marquis Lazarus'
alliance. The revelations keep the Church from going to war against the elfs, realizing it is a trap staged
by Lazarus.
In Ravarra Paolo is treated like a living saint. People worship him as the savior of mankind, the
harbinger of good tidings. He has reached his own personal heaven as the Church's only living saint-
Oh, the irony: sainthood through double treason. But little does he know that he will live scarce two
more years. An agent of the Darkness will kill the Church's only living saint as Paolo participates in a
parade to his honor. For such moves the One, in mysterious ways.
Bishop Ignatio
The Darkness had proven a harsh mistress. Ignatio had learnt that now. Oh, the glories, the power, and
the might she promised; but woe, how unyielding she could be. The highs she gave were the best.
Almost unlimited power, the Darkness could provide. But coming down, the demands, what she asked
him to do in return… At times he thought it to be too much. That it did not pay off. He wanted to leave,
to stop serving under her austere rule. However much he wanted, he could not make himself leave. The
bridges had been burnt, he had taken one step too many to return to the world. He, once a proud bishop
of the One's Church, was now an outlaw, a persona non grata, and if he ever was identified the
Inquisition would burn him at the stake.
His old life had been ripped right out of his hands. Sometimes Ignatio wondered if it had been
voluntarily. He had called the shots himself, all being his own decisions. He was, after all, a free man,
liberated by the Darkness from the shackles inflicted by the Church and traditions. No longer was he
bound by morality, he need not serve anyone but himself and that which was better for him.
Of course he had made the decisions himself! He was a free man, and the Darkness had liberated
him. How silly it was to even question whether he had called the shots himself; that the sacrifices were
worth it. Why of course they were! Never in his life had he been freer, more content, and more
powerful. He had been liberated!
It was all worth it – no question about that.
Yet, Ignatio had this nagging feeling that in the end the Darkness would consume him completely.
The eclipse
Day 3 of the 5th month
Finally! My quest seems to be over. In the wilderness outside of a small hamlet bearing no name (its
inhabitants just call it Home) I have discovered a complete circle of standing stones. Although worn by
time and overgrown with moss and lichen, I am quite confident I will find inscriptions beneath.
Hopefully these inscriptions will be more complete than those I have come across earlier.
Jehosaphat, my ever-faithful assistant, is just done setting up our provisory camp. The villagers have
most kindly let us use an old, abandoned tool shed as housing. Not yet crumbling, the shed's walls seem
to stoop in unnatural angles. They would have driven my tutor in geometry to the brink of madness.
Though we cannot see them from our provisory housing, it is a short walk to the standing stones.
Tomorrow we will begin our studies, for today it is too late. Dusk is already falling, and we need good
lighting for the work ahead of us.
Day 4 of the 5th month
I believe we have hit gold this time. Rising in the wee hours of the morning, we were already up and
about when the sun rose over the horizon. With tools in hand, Jehosaphat and I began removing the
moss and lichen from the stones. It is a time-consuming job. If my suspicions are correct, the faces of
these stones have not seen the light of day in generations.
I have decided that we shall clean up all the stones before I get on with the task of trying to
understand the inscriptions. However, I could not keep myself from marveling at the beauty of the
inscriptions as we got on with the job. There is this one hieroglyph <<insert a cool hieroglyph (1)
here>> that seems to recur throughout. I wonder what it means…
Today's work is complete. Both Jehosaphat and I are exhausted. Not only is it time-consuming, it is
also hard work readying the stones for closer examination.
Day 5 of the 5th month
Dawn broke with the most awful spring rain you can imagine. One thing is for sure: the roof of our
makeshift home is leaking nothing I have never seen before. We are both soaked to the bone despite
having spent all day indoors.
I have noticed that the villagers are hard at work in spite of the horrendous rain – or maybe in
defiance of the rain. Since the ground around the stones are nothing but mud, we have been kept from
our work. This has given me ample time to study the villagers. They are a queer kind. I still have not
seen them speak. Sullenly they all go about their business, taking seemingly no notice of each other.
Odd…
The Darkness Thomas Østerlie
Gemini sourcebook Page 9 of 109 Trondheim May 19 2000
Many share a common physical trait: deeply set eyes. I guess they have not bred with fresh blood in
ever so long. Inbreeding is probably quite common here. This I will have to check with the village elder.
If there ever is one such person…
Day 7 of the 5th month
Yesterday was uneventful. It stopped raining some time in the afternoon and Jehosaphat and I got to our
business once the ground had dried up a bit. It was still a dirty job, but we got on with it.
Today I have learnt the most intriguing piece of information. As noted earlier, I contacted the village
elder to learn more of the hamlet. My curiosity is insatiable. He did not reveal much of the villagers, but
I got the distinct feeling he was not all too happy about us taking interest in the standing stones. This
piqued my interest, but he was not about to reveal any information of his own free will. All I got from
him was that if he was me, he would have left those stones alone. "One should be careful not to wake
the evil spirits," he said. No matter how much I pressed him on this point, he was not about to tell me
any more.
Somewhat puzzled I returned to Jehosaphat. It has been an interesting day.
Day 8 of the 5th month
We are done cleaning the stones now. It is noon and Jehosaphat and I have just finished our noon meal.
Villagers have gathered around the stone circle, watching us at work. Or rather, scowling at us while
working. I guess they are curious to see what we are doing. None of them talk to me, though I have tried
initiating talks with a few of our spectators.
Now that all the stones are all clean, this one hieroglyph that I had noticed before <<insert the same
cool hieroglyph (1) as that above>> seems to recur throughout each stone. Deciphering the hieroglyphs
is a tremendous task. Rather weirdly, this one hieroglyph seems to send shivers down my spine every
time I trace it with my finger. There is something about it that makes me uneasy. While Jehosaphat
promptly refuses, I can see him shuddering, too, whenever he stumbles across this hieroglyph.
I am beginning to believe more and more that these hieroglyphs are the remnants of some civilization
pre-dating that which our historians can trace. It is extremely fascinating work. I cannot wait to crack
the code and start learning the ancient wisdom chiseled into these stones aeons ago.
Day 10 of the 5th month
Something weird transpired this night. Both Jehosaphat and I were kept awake by these strange noises.
They kept recurring throughout the night, stopping mere moments ago as dawn broke. The noises were
nothing either of us has heard before. Words cannot begin to describe them. However strange this may
sound, the noise gave me somewhat the same sensation as I have been experiencing when tracing that
which I have come to call the evil rune <<insert the same cool hieroglyph (1) as that above>> because
of its effect on us.
---
It is dusk now, and we have retired to our shed. I cannot make head nor tail of the enigmatic
hieroglyphs. Today has been a terribly little fruitful. My hopes are that tomorrow will grant a better
yield.
Day 20 of the 5th month
I am beginning to despair. For over ten days we have been studying the hieroglyphs, alas to no avail.
We are both getting a bit testy, Jehosaphat and I, but we are not about to give up so easily.
Day 25 of the 5th month
Almost a complete cycle of the moon has passed and I am left with nothing substantial. Today
Jehosaphat and I had our first, serious fall-out. Jehosaphat left. He did not bring any of his gear, but
now, as darkness has settled, he has not returned. I hope all is well with him.
Day 26 of the 5th month
It turns out our recent fall-out lead to something good after all. Walking about in the forest, darkness
totally surprised Jehosaphat. He made camp beneath a giant oaken tree where he found a stone covered
in soft moss to rest his head on. Understandably, Jehosaphat slept uneasy. The woods are filled with
wolves and other predators. When he woke, he found his chin scraped. In his sleep he had rubbed off
most of the moss off the stone. Cursing his ill fate, Jehosaphat used some of the loose moss to dress his
wounds.
And behold!
Beneath the stone turned out to be filled with inscriptions. Praising his lucky star, Jehosaphat made
his way back to our camp to report this finding.
Most of this day has been spent at the stone. We are both extremely excited. As it turns out, the stone
is easier to understand. It is obviously some sort of a calendar. It shows the cycles of the moon, and the
positions of the stars at any given date. Some of the hieroglyphs in the calendar I recognize from the
standing stones <<insert a couple of cool hieroglyphs>>. Tomorrow I will use them in a renewed effort
to decipher the hieroglyphs on the standing stones in order to learn the ancient wisdom they hold.
Day 27 of the 5th month
We have made progress – considerable progress. I am starting to suspect that one of the standing stones
is a gigantic astronomical calendar. It seems to list dates of some peculiar events. Especially one
passage has caught my attention <<insert a sequence of several hieroglyphs ending with the evil rune
(1)>>. Mostly because it contains the evil rune, I believe.
Day 1 of the 6th month
I almost cannot believe what I have learnt. I was right about that one standing stone. It is a gigantic
astronomical calendar. However, it is not like any calendar I have seen before. From what I can tell it is
a calendar of omens that are to pass when the celestial bodies are in certain positions on the firmament.
Since the evil rune is recurring in several of the glyph sequences, I fear that these are bad omens.
Day 2 of the 6th month
Today has been a major breakthrough. It started off slowly. I am coming to an end with the aid the
stone under the oaken tree could provide me. Although having understood that one of the standing
stones is an astronomical calendar, I still am unable to understand its contents. Then fate played me a
wondrous trick.
After darkness had fallen, a villager approached us. His name seems to elude me, but it is of no
consequence. What he told me, however, might prove ever so valuable. He said he knew what some of
the hieroglyphs meant. I found this strange, as the man is an illiterate for sure, yet what he told me did
seem reasonable. The runes he knew were:
"eclipse" <<insert a cool glyph>>
"gateway", or maybe "bridge across the gulf" <<insert a cool glyph>>
"age" <<insert a cool glyph>>
"the son of darkness", or possibly "he who betrays man by darkness" <<cool glyph (2) looking quite
like the evil rune>>
The Darkness Thomas Østerlie
Gemini sourcebook Page 11 of 109 Trondheim May 19 2000
"the Darkness" <<insert the evil rune (1)>>

EARLY MORNING
I brought a lantern to the standing stones. I simply could not wait for dawn to break. I had to see if I
could make any more sense from the inscriptions using my newly found knowledge. Tonight I have
made good progress. My eyes are sore, but now I know more what the inscriptions are about. As far as
I can tell they recount ancient legends of a struggle between good and evil.
I will go to bed now. Dawn has not yet broken, and I sorely need some sleep. My entire body is
aching, yet my spirits are soaring. I believe this to be a major breakthrough!
Day 3 of the 6th month
Woe! We were rudely awoken just before dawn by the village elder. To my utmost distress he could tell
that the villager who had visited me last night has been found dead. In the center of the standing stones
his body had been found badly mutilated – eyes torn out, and tongue likewise. We are being kept
responsible for his death. The village elder blames the death on the evil spirits he thinks live among the
standing stones. However, he blames us for disturbing their rest.
Much to my alarm, the situation almost came out of control. Villagers were surrounding us, armed
with pitchforks and lit torches. Jehosaphat and I armed with nothing but our nightcaps. After some back
and forth, Jehosaphat, ever the diplomat, was able to calm things down a bit, and the villagers
grudgingly left us alone.
However, I am in trouble. What if they learn that the dead man saw me the night before his death?
And what if they learn that I spent most of the night among the standing stones? I am in serious trouble.
MIDNIGHT
I am becoming suspicious. A whole new world has opened up to me after learning of the glyphs last
night. The ancient legends that I find on the stones are oddly similar to the stories recounted by the
Nomen. The glyphs speak of a man, portrayed by the <<insert son of darkness rune (2)>>, who is first
betrayed by his kin then he betrays them. He will be stopped at releasing the ancient evil upon his kin,
but only to assume a new shape in the lands of evil.
Oddly reminiscent of the tale of Cyrus…
We will continue our excavations tomorrow.
Day 4 of the 6th month
A terrible ruckus kept us awake all night. They were the same noises we heard earlier, albeit this time
ever so much closer. The noise made it impossible for both of us, Jehosaphat and I, to get any sleep. To
make things worse, upon getting up at dawn, Jehosaphat found an odd stick figurine strung down from
the carrier beam across the missing door of our shed. The figurine is made of twigs and branches strung
together with tree bark. It troubled me that the figurine was shaped like the evil rune!
I have now learnt that Jehosaphat has found such a figurine strung from the beam every morning
upon fetching my water. He has, however, chosen to keep that a secret from me. He simply did not think
it was of any importance. Wherever does he get such an idea?! Deep inside, this warms my old heart,
though. It is fairly obvious that Jehosaphat, too, has seen that the twig figurine resembles the evil rune.
Him having chosen to hide their presence from me must only mean that he is trying as best as he can to
protect me from the evil that seems to surrounds us at this place. For there is more…
This morning's twig figurine would most probably have passed me by unnoticed, as those of previous
mornings, had it not been for the fact that Jehosaphat set in a shrieking cry when cutting the figurine
down. In two steps I was by the door, seeing the figurine hanging from the beam. Within the blink of an
eye I could see the cause of Jehosaphat's cry: two eyeballs were fastened to the figurine. Human
eyeballs mind you, and in my opinion the eyeballs of the deceased villager. Upon talking with
Jehosaphat afterwards I learnt the lad had kept the figurines a secret from me.
I can only conclude that someone is trying to tell us something. We have both decided to keep the
whole incident to ourselves. Telling the villagers would only stir sentiments even more, most probably
forcing us to leave. That, we cannot have, now that we are so close to understanding what the standing
stones can tell us.

MID-DAY
Oh dear!
This is worse than I had believed. Villagers have been lurking around the glade with the standing
stones all through this morning. Walking among the trees, I think they are trying not to be seen. Poor
nitwits, not understanding that we can see them. Something is at miss here. I cannot tell what, but there
is something wrong. However, I cannot let that ruin now that I am this close to learning the truth about
the stones' inscriptions.

LATE AFTERNOON
Another startling discovery! Or rather: another disturbing discovery.
I am starting to make sense of the astronomical calendar. Especially one event: an eclipse of sorts.
Moreover, it seems to be connected to the return of the Son of Darkness <<insert son of darkness rune
(2)>>. In unambiguous words it says that when the celestial bodies come to be in their original positions
on the firmament, aligning in front of the sun, the Son of Darkness will be freed from his age-long
imprisonment, unleashing his wrath upon mankind. In itself not much that would make me shudder.
However, comparing the charts on the stones with the calculus in the astronomical books I always bring
on my travels, I have started to chart the effects of this eclipse onto a map of our world. Timeconsuming
work, because the stones do not use the same names as we do for the geographical features
of the world. This is, however, much more gratifying than struggling to understand the glyphs. I can
only praise my lucky starts for being approached by the now deceased villager.

LATE NIGHT
I have been toiling over the map all night. My eyes are running sore because of the poor lighting
produced by the candle we were able to procure from the villagers. An unhelpful lot, they are. I almost
had to threaten with unleash the evil spirits upon them to get myself a candle. We ran out of oil for our
lanterns late last night. Candles are not as good lighting as lanterns, but it was the best we could find. I
will, unfortunately, have to take an early night because we cannot afford to spend all of the candles in
one go. We still have a lot of work in front of us.
Day 5 of the 6th month
We are both starting to get jumpy. All of the night that same ruckus kept us awake. Neither of us has
slept properly for a couple of nights now. Jehosaphat is already starting to show strain, the poor lad. I
am fairly certain that the noises are closer than ever, and this time we both agree upon hearing chants as
well. This is, in other words, something created by humans. Even though: there is something eerily
unnatural about the sounds. Something out of this world.
Another twig figurine was strung to the carrier beam this morning, too. Today, I could not for my
very life make Jehosaphat fetch me water until I had removed the figurine. Even though I do not say, it
really puzzles me how the villagers are able to string up the figurine without Jehosaphat or me taking
notice of it. The whole idea of someone sneaking up to our shed without us noticing is somewhat
unnerving.
That I removed the figurine this morning was probably for the better. Strapped to the figurine was
the bleached skull of some small rodent of sorts. The whole thing is starting to make me very uneasy.
Combined with my findings, I must confess that I find this whole scene quite disturbing.

AFTERNOON
I am making slow, yet steady, progress on the map. The reason why I write these lines is to make a
remark about Jehosaphat's behavior. He has kept to himself all day, sulking, only responding in single
syllables when I speak to him. I have several times asked him to rest in the sun, but he refuses, saying
he cannot sleep after the events that have transpired. Personally, I think it might have been wrong
bringing Jehosaphat on this trip. Maybe he is a bit young, after all.
Another thing, the villagers are still stalking us, keeping an eye on our every move.
Day 6 of the 6th month
We took an early night yesterday. Jehosaphat was weary to the bone, and I want to save the candles for
later. Both of us fell asleep soundly even before night settled. However, our sleep was to be short. I
gather it was around midnight that we were both rudely awoken. There was someone outside the shed.
Many people walking around it, knocking on the walls with sticks or whatever. And then we heard that
same noise as we have heard so many times before. Only this time, it was right outside of the shed!
That we were afraid, is an understatement. We found the whole scene terrifying. It only made matters
worse that bonfires were being lit outside. Neither of use dared venture outside to see who was
terrorizing us. Especially after seeing those unnatural shades in the glare of the bonfires. Those cannot
have been human shapes. It would have been impossible to tell, for they were wearing hooded robes.
The ruckus left us shaken to the core. Sleep deprivation is now really starting to take its toll on the
both of us. When the ruckus ended sometime close to dawn, we both fell asleep. Upon waking some
time around noon, we ventured outside. I was intent upon getting to the bottom of the matter, so I did
what I should have done long ago: I went to see the village elder.
I cannot begin to describe how that meeting made me feel. Needles to say: I am starting to question
my own sanity. Maybe the glyphs were not meant to be deciphered. Maybe they hold knowledge that
will drive any man to the brink of his sanity. Is that why both Jehosaphat and I are hearing this strange
noises and having these strange visions?
The thing is, the village elder promptly refused ever hearing any ruckus any night. Even the other
villagers deny ever having heard any noise. To prove my case I took them to our shed to show them the
glowing embers of last night's bonfires. There were none! Jehosaphat and I must either have dreamt the
whole thing, something that I doubt judging from the weariness that I am experiencing, or there is
something unnatural going on. The third alternative, the one which I do not want to believe, is that
Jehosaphat and I are slowly going mad.
By the One, let it not be so.
Maybe we are dabbling with something that man was not meant to know. Maybe we have discovered
some ancient secret that was to remain a secret. Maybe we have disturbed the evil spirits.

AFTERNOON
I do not want this to be true!
Jehosaphat has started babbling like a madman. I cannot for my very life understand what he is
saying. It is almost as if he is speaking a foreign tongue. Some of the sounds he is making I have never
heard a human utter before. The milk of the poppy that I brewed for him seems to be calming him down,
but the poor lad is feverish.

EVENING
Jehosaphat woke with a start mere moments ago. I have picked up my notebook to record the events that
are transpiring as they unfold in front of my eyes. To say that I do not understand what is happening is
an understatement. Jehosaphat went to the stone he has been studying for days upon end upon wakin.
While tracing the glyphs with his right index finger he is reciting something in a foreign tongue. I am
afraid the poor lad has lost his mind, and I am afraid that I am starting to crack myself for in a curious
way it seems as if I understand what Jehosaphat is reciting. It is the tale of things to come and how
things might be. They are bad omens from an age long past, and they chill me to the bone.
SUNSET
Jehosaphat is finally calm. I am starting to fear that our time is running out. We cannot stay here much
longer, or we will lose our minds the both of us. I have therefore chosen to burn my candles tonight in a
desperate attempt to finish the map. There is not much left now.
Final entry
I do not know what day it is any more, for I have been on the run for so long that the days are becoming
a blur. My fear is that this will be the final entry. If they catch up with me, I have nowhere to run any
more. I feel they are tightening the noose and that my final hour is drawing near. It is therefore vital that
I record my final discoveries.
After my last diary entry I kept working on my map throughout the evening and early night. Then,
around midnight, the evil spirits returned. Knocking on the shed with their sticks, chanting ever so
loudly, and lighting bonfires, too. They woke Jehosaphat from his deepest sleep. The boy sat up, eyes
wide open, a crazy shine in them. His smile was of total bliss. What happened next made my blood run
cold. It was nothing I had ever expected. Not even in my wildest nightmares. Making the sign of the
One, reciting his five commandments did not help much. I believe nothing could have prepared me for
that which struck like lightning on a sunny day.
Waking up, Jehosaphat got up. But instead of huddling close to me, as had all previous nights, he
joined the chanting. Performing the most disturbing dance on the middle of the dirt floor of our
makeshift home, he seemed to known the chant by heart. I must confess that I did not know what to
believe or what to do.
For what seemed like an eternity I stared at Jehosaphat in disbelief. It was as if he had become
someone else, something monstrous and evil. I think it must have been the smoke stinging my eyes that
shook me out of this trancelike state. The bastards had set our shed on fire, and I had not noticed until
we were almost completely engulfed in flames. That I had not yet gone to sleep was my fortune. I was,
unlike Jehosaphat, fully dressed. I tried collecting as many of my notes as I could before escaping the
flames. Upon fleeing the scene I tried dragging the poor lad with me. He snapped at me, leaving bite
marks on the back of my hand. I realized it was too late for him. Hallowed be his memory. The last
thing I saw before fleeing into the forest was Jehosaphat still doing that crazy dance inside the shed. The
poor lad alit with flames. His shrieks of pain I shall never forget. They will ring in my ears till the day I
die. Which seems to be fairly soon anyway.
I managed to save the map, this diary and the notebook I had been using to copy sequences of glyphs.
Not venturing a return to the stone circle, I found a glade where I could finish my work, as dawn broke
the next day. Little did I know at this time that those who had terrorized us were chasing me.
Little did I also know of what I would learn that day. Even now, weeks later, the knowledge makes
my blood curdle. For I had learnt something that no man was meant to know. That which the standing
stones were talking about was no ancient myth. It was the future to come, and very soon now. All that
which I had been taught at cathedral school seemed wasted. That we could have grown so very selfassured
seems a curse today. He is to return, Cyrus. The Dark Martyr will once again emerge through
the Iron Gate put there by Hymeneus, the Church Father. And Cyrus will plunge our world into eternal
night. At least parts of it. The map that I have finished shows how this will affect our world:
<<insert map hand drawn map showing the different zones of darkness during the eclipse>>
The Dark Martyr will be freed from his prison as the five moons align in front of the sun creating a
complete eclipse. There they will freeze. From the day Cyrus is released till the end of the world, the
five moons will traverse the skies together with the sun, blocking its life-bringing light from parts of our
world. An eternal belt of darkness will, as you can see from my map, stretch across Merodak, Orschild,
Cavala, Luceria and the northernmost parts of Avernus. The eclipse will pass through the capitols of
Orschild, Cavala and Luceria once every day, plunging the cities in total darkness. My estimates are
that there will even be a couple of hours of twilight both preceding and following the daily eclipse. The
farther south people will notice less of the Darkness. Sein, Aretas, Galatien and the southernmost parts
of Bervoche and Avernus will only experience a partial eclipse once each day.
From what I can calculate, the effects of the eclipse are that people will never more experience a full
moon nor any other stages of the moon cycle. All five moons are forever locked in their positions in
front of the sun. Still, normal astrological effects such as dawn, twilight, and even seasons will still hold
true.
So the accounts of my discoveries end. Likewise with my life, I am afraid. I have come to rest with
the terms. Soon my life will be over.
Oh, god. It has begun. They are here. Praised be the One, he who shows mercy on all living things.
<<the writing trails off the last page, a page spattered with blood and dirt>>



PART I
APOSTLES OF DARKNESS



CHAPTER 2: CYRUS –
THE DARK MARTYR

<<begin single page color text>>
In the shadows, terror lurks.
No place is safe from the Darkness' contamination.
As the Iron Gate was opened, Seeds of Darkness swarmed across the human lands finding fruitful soil
in the hatred and bigotry of mankind. Most seeds died in early infancy before they were able to take
root in the heart of a host, others took root. With time, these seeds grew inside their host to one day
emerge as demons: alien enforcers of the Darkness' will.

Like a virulent disease, the Seed of Darkness slumber inside its host: unaware of the Darkness that
has settled within its heart. For years the Seed may slumber, to finally bloom and take possession of
its host - slowly but steadily. Spreading from the heart, now pitch black with contamination, the
demon occupies the possessed's mind, body and soul until it blossoms and eventually sheds its host
body, emerging as its true self - as the demon that it is.

Demons lurk where they are least expected. No one knows for sure how many demons there are in
the world, nor how many that have been contaminated with a Seed of Darkness. While demon hunters
roam the land in search of possession, demons harbor inside many a high ranking official's heart: an
invisible agent of the Darkness in the midst of mankind. No Sovereign, and no inquisitor know their
numbers. That is a source of constant worry.

When possession is discovered it is usually too late, possession has progressed too far and there is
only one solution: death by fire - for fire can only be fought with fire. Only those of importance to the
Church may be so fortunate that they are exposed to the horrors and the pain of exorcism, a ritual to
drive the demon from its host's heart.

Demons leave no host unscarred. As the Darkness' contamination spreads through his body, the
possessed enters a state of metamorphosis. His body starts to change, mirroring the Darkness inside.
Some metamorphose hideously unable to conceal their state. Others metamorphose subtly - their state
being either un-noticed to everyone but the most experienced, or their changes easily concealed as the
Mark of Darkness is bore on the most discreet parts of the possessed's body. However, anyone with a
demon in their heart will bear the Mark of Darkness somewhere on their body.
<<end single page color text>>

The year is 1295 and Cyrus is still the foremost Apostle of Darkness in the world. His is the Iron Gate
to control, deciding who passes through to the lands of mankind, and who passes through to the Realms
of Darkness. Today, fifteen years after the Iron Gate was opened by Malachdrim, Cyrus is the only
Dark Inheritor this side of the rift in the northern mountains. He commands and coordinates the
Darkness' forays into the human lands. His power is immense, and his dark influence has cast a magical
shroud across the northern provinces. Eternal twilight has settled upon Merodak, Cergovia, Mordinan,
and the northernmost parts of Galatien and Orschild. This in combination with the eclipse that travels
across these lands makes the northern parts of the world a bleak place indeed. Like cancer the Dark
Martyr's dominance spreads across the world, and as his dominance spreads so does the dark shroud
move ever southwards.

A thousand years ago Cyrus was killed and flung through the Iron Gate. On the far side of the Gate
he assumed life in death. What happened is not clear. How he turned his worst defeat into victory is a
tale never told, but it is obvious that Cyrus played the hand he was dealt by Lady Fortune most
skillfully. Within a millennium he had risen to power and assumed the seventh seat among the Dark

Inheritors, that which had been vacant for so long. Not by fortune has made him the one to emerge
through the Iron Gate and assume rulership of the Iron Hold. From his seat among the Dark Inheritors
he wove a web of intrigues – there is a reason why he is called Count Conniving – and today he reigns
supreme from the Iron Hold looming on the peaks above the Iron Gate.

From his throne room he directs the Darkness' henchmen across the world. Striding atop his Razor
Throne he receives messages from the many covert agents placed in high positions across the world.
From there he awaits the moment when the world has been prepared – for Cyrus has learnt by past
mistakes. The world is not yet ready for the Darkness. He will not make the same mistake as the Dark
Inheritors made thirteen hundred years ago. The world cannot be turned to the Darkness' will by brute
force alone. First mankind's hearts and souls must be turned to the Darkness. Only then can he unleash
his demonic forces and conquer the world!

In the mean time Cyrus bides his time, infiltrating mankind, sowing the seeds of Darkness among
them, playing on the enemies within.

The dark hierarchy

Cyrus is the Darkness' supreme ruler in the world of Gemini. His rule is total, and his authority is
unquestionable. Having learnt from past mistakes, Cyrus is intent on infiltrating human society before
he starts conquering the world. To this end he commands countless legions of demons. Across the world
people possessed by demons live and breath in the power centers of mankind, reporting back to their
master residing in the Iron Hold. Cyrus stretches his dark influence across the world, stronghold upon
stronghold succumbing to the lure of the Darkness, city upon city taken over by the Darkness' agents,
court upon court doing the Dark Martyr's bidding.

Malachdrim
" As the last church burns, as the last monastery has been set ablaze, know this; this is only the
beginning of your suffering, mortal fools. For with me comes the full might of the Darkness with
revelations untold and visions unseen."
– Malachdrim

To levy his military might Cyrus uses the Fallen Vassal Malachdrim as his right hand man. Once forced
into servitude with the Darkness by utter desperation, today Malachdrim is Cyrus' most devoted
follower. An Apostle of Darkness himself, Malachdrim controls the massive army that he has raised
since the Iron Gate's seal was broken. There is only one that gives the Fallen Vassal orders, and that is
Cyrus. In return Cyrus has promised to help wage the Third Elf War and force the elfin Queen to expel
her human lovers and spawn with Malachdrim again.

Marquis Lazarus
"I am the way. The beginning of your dark salvation and the end of your lie-infested existence as
slaves to the Church. Know this: only I can deliver this dark blessing; only I can show you the true
path."
– Marquis Lazarus

The avaricious and mortally jealous Marquis Lazarus is responsible for the spreading the Darkness'
work among the world's inhabitants. Lazarus, mortally jealous of Malachdrim's position as Cyrus' right
hand, is using his Dark Priests to spread his influence among the people of the world, and the Fallen
Templars to enforce his military rule. From Merodak, the Dark Province, Lazarus rules the Church of
Darkness. Nominally Cyrus' follower, the Fallen Marquis has an agenda of his own.

The agents of Darkness
"In the end there will be no palace, no castle, no steadfast hold that does not harbor my will inside."
– Cyrus, the Dark Martyr

Cyrus has planted his agents throughout the world. With a combination of promises, threats, and the
addictive surge of power the Darkness can provide he has recruited willing agents to serve among his
ranks. They report back to him, keeping him constantly informed of the events transpiring in the world
and the web of intrigues spun by man in his quest for wealth and power. With these eyes and ears in the
world, Cyrus sees the complete picture of the world's many intrigues and power games better than
anyone. With this knowledge he pits adversaries against each other, by using his agents he plants the
seeds of disunity and strife among the ranks of mankind. As the Grand Puppet Master himself, Cyrus
pulls the invisible strings attached to power and might, playing the those of power as puppets in his
grand puppet theatre play for control of the world.

Probably the best agents Cyrus has, are those still unaware of being agents. It is not so that all those
who stray from the constrictive laws of the One do so in order to serve the Darkness. Many are simply
seeking to fulfill their own egotistical goals of wealth and power. Others believe can enforce the One's
will through cruelty and terror. Though unaware of it, these individuals slip further and further away
from the fold of the One as they become obsessed with themselves and their own self-centered goals.
The less regard they show other people, the more susceptible to the lure of the Darkness they are, doing
its bidding while unawares of the fact that it is not their own free will. Keeping these individuals in the
dark is often more fruitful to Cyrus than letting them in on the secret. Cyrus will plant his agents among
the advisors and most trusted of these unaware servants of the Darkness, to guide them onto the path
and to make them do the Darkness' bidding.

However, Cyrus' agents do not simply limit themselves to those in high places, those with
connections and influence. He knows if the world is to be his, he has to have the following of both those
of high and low birth, of those of the secular and churchly world. Cyrus' agents has organized cults and
covens across the world, congregating in the big cities' sewers, in ancient ruins across the countryside,
in forgotten glades deep within the world's thick forests, and in cellars and high towers of castles
scattered across the land. Wherever you turn, if you know the signs, there is a congregation of the
Darkness near by. Walking among those pledging allegiance to the Dark Martyr and the Darkness, are
Cyrus' most trusted lieutenants: the possessed, those who harbor a demon inside their heart.

Manifestation of the Darkness

No-one truly knows what the Darkness really is. The Church does not know, the sovereigns and their
advisor do not know, and neither does the Darkness' henchmen. Known to all of them, however, is how
the Darkness manifests itself in our world on this side of the rift in the northern mountains; it manifests
itself in the form of demons: powerful, alien entities from the far side of the Iron Gate.
The demons are the Darkness' fabled warlords whose reign of terror the pages of Nomen describe so
vividly – the holy scriptures of the Church. In the distant past when the warring tribes trekked across
the mountains, the demons led the armies of Darkness as they swept across the human lands.
When the rift in the northern mountains was closed, as Marquis Hymeneus raised the Iron Gate, he
shut the demons out from the human lands. Or so the Church wanted to believe. Eons would pass, and it
was not until the Iron Gate was reopened that the demons once again swept across the world. But in
secrecy demons had existed all along. Slumbering in the heart of carriers, they had died with their hosts
without ever springing to life... that is, until the Iron Gate was reopened and a voice from the other side
commanded them to life.

Birth of a demon
"I have died, and I have been resurrected again. A thousand times."
- The Book of Darkness, Cyrus reciting his talk with a demon

Today, demons lurk everywhere in the world of Gemini. At the moment of the eclipse, when the Iron
Gate was opened by Malachdrim, demons were unleashed on the world. No place is too hallowed for the
Darkness' contamination.

Starting out as a Seed of Darkness, the demon seeks an unwary victim whose heart is already filled
with man's darkest feelings – hatred, egotism, jealousy, and bigotry. Only those pure of heart and pure
of soul, only those who harbor no ill feelings towards their next of kin, are safe from the demons.
Demons are the Darkness' most powerful agents in the world. Some even claim they are the Darkness
given physical shape. Mighty beings on their own the demons harbor inside a possessed heart for years
without revealing itself, playing the role as infiltrator perfectly. When the time is right the demon will
shed its human guise to act as warlord in the armies of Darkness.

The Seed of Darkness
"The worst of evils are the demons clawing at you from the inside."
– The Nomen

From the other side of the rift in the northern mountains, from the far side of the Iron Gate, Seeds of
Darkness are constantly being produced and poured onto the world where they are scattered by the
winds of magic. Within them, these seeds carry the very essence of Darkness, the essence of what may
eventually blossom as a full-grown demon.

Like fungi spores being released to find a host that it may leech on, the Seeds of Darkness are
released to find victims to harbor them. Once it has found a host, the Seed settles within its victim's
heart where it slumbers, waiting for the moment when it shall spread its dark contamination throughout
the host's body and soul.

In fruitful soil the Seed of Darkness will thrive and soon blossom, but in unfruitful soil it will quickly
wither and die. While slumbering the seed feeds on its host's dark feelings. If the host has no such
feelings, the seed with wither and die. The slumbering demon is vulnerable, but patiently it awaits its
masters' command, word from the Dark Inheritors for it to awaken and begin its work.

The Awakening
"Once awakened, twice possessed, fallen body, living death."
- The Book of Darkness, hymn for a newly awakened demon.

While slumbering the demon harbors in its host's heart where it cannot be found, its host unaware of the
terror it carries within. When the demon receives the Dark Inheritors' command to awaken and start its
work, the demon spreads its dark contamination throughout the host body. Quickly taking possession of
the host body and mind, banishing the poor host's soul to the icy cold fringes of nothingness.
As the demon awakens, it spreads its darkness throughout the host body. Humans are not created to
be possessed, and the darkness within will twist and agonize their body. The pain ranges from the mild
caress of a throbbing headache to the piercing agony as bones and muscles metamorphose. The
possessed body receives its Mark of Darkness.
Throughout the awakening the possessed will be swing between the exhilaration the powers of
Darkness grant him, to the bottomless pits of despair agonizing over what is happening and in longing
for the exhilaration of power again.

Catharsis
"As you outgrow the prison of the flesh, we bide thee welcome to step forward as your true self."
- The Book of Darkness.

When it is ready, the demon will shed the flesh of its host body ripping it apart as a ripe fruit. It will
step forth as its true self, an alien being from the far side of the Iron Gate. Once it has shed its host, the
demon can no longer hide its true nature. It can no longer act as a spy for the Darkness, leaving it little
choice but action.

Demons' role in the world
"Emerge and thee shall rule the world!"
– Part of a demon invocation ritual

Demons are the Darkness' ultimate agents in the world. Their versatility is extreme. The Dark Inheritors
use them for all kinds of tasks, ranging from infiltrating the Church and the worldly organizations,
through acting as assassins to eliminate hard-to-get-to targets, to leaders of pivotal heretical cults and
covens.

To this end the Darkness has shaped a whole range of different demons, each strand with its own
specialties and traits to perform their task to perfection. Their strength varies, depending on the
importance of their mission, their shapes depending on the nature of their mission. Only one thing is for
sure, there are more strands of demons than those catalogued by the Church's demon hunters.
There are no estimates of the number of demons in the world. In fact no one has the faintest clue as
to how many demons that walk the land unseen. Demons are the enemy within, the disease that is eating
mankind from the inside out.

The path to possession
"Call my name, and I shall live!"
– Book of Invocations.

Once the demon is aroused it will try to tempt its host into opening itself to the demon's influence. The
lower the host's Nature sinks, the more power the demon gains. This is described by different levels of
possession. Once the host's Nature has reached -26 or less he is possessed. If his Nature falls again he
may have slipped further down the path onto the next level of possession. Observe that these rules are
supplemental to the rules about Nature in the main rulebook, these new rules do not replace the old. You
are not exempt from the normal laws of nature just because you are harboring a demon inside.
The rules below are a more generic version of those printed in Bishop Ignation's Spell Book, and are
meant to cover more types of possession than just that of the Jeselit. However, they do not replace the
rules given for Jeselits, merely complement them for other kinds of demons.

Nature Level of Possession

-26 – -32 Level 1. The Demon has just been awoken from its slumber within its host's heart. It is
still only semi-aware and fairly easy to resist. Consequently its ability to aid its host is
also limited (see the demon descriptions below for more information about the special
rules pertaining the particulars). The possessed character does not have to accept
demonic aid, but if he does his Nature will fall by a further -1 each time. After having
accepted demonic aid like this the possessed character must make a MEN roll. His
Well-being is reduced by 1 if he fails, as he is plunged into depression as a side-effect of
the power gained by the possession.

-33 – -39 Level 2. The demon has hatched. It is conscious and begins to actively open its host to
its dark influence (see the demon descriptions below for more information about the
Nature Level of Possession
special rules pertaining the particulars). The possessed character still does not have to
accept aid provided by the demon inside, but if he chooses not to he must make a
standard MEN roll. If this fails he must accept the aid. As before, if the bonus is
accepted his Nature will fall by -1, but need not checking to see if his Well-being drops.
If you are using the optional horror and madness rules provided in this book, a player
must make a horror roll every time his character tries to resist the demonic aid but fails.
This is a shocking experience, horror level 10.

-40 – -46 Level 3. By this stage of the path the demon has gained enough power to begin to
influence all of its hosts actions. A possessed character at this stage of the path is still
subject to all the rules of level 2 (see the demon descriptions below for more information
about the special rules pertaining the particulars). Furthermore, the demon will try to
force the possessed character to further its own objectives, and those of its dark masters.
At crucial stages in the adventure the demon may try to temporarily take control over
the character to force him commit evil. At any time during the adventure the Narrator
may ask the player to make a standard MEN-roll. If this fails the demon forces the
character to take one action. For example, if the characters have just rescued a powerful
and important church official the demon may force the character to kill the man they
have just sweated blood and tears to rescue. The character will then have to try to
explain this to his friends.

-47 – -53 Level 4. This far down the path the demon has grown powerful enough to take control
of the hosts mind and body, but only for brief periods at a time. At this stage of the
possession the character is still subject to all the rules of level 3. Furthermore, every
time he fails a MEN roll to resist the demon's influences the demon may take control of
his body and mind for 1D20 rounds. During this time the demon may not assume its
true shape completely, but it may use any demonic powers or abilities it might have
which do not require this. However, it does have complete control over the character and
may force him to commit actions that will further lower the character's nature. When the
character resumes control after 1D20 rounds he will have no memory of the time when
the demon was in control. Finally the character may no longer refuse the demon's aid
(see the demon descriptions below for more information about the special rules
pertaining the particulars). This does mean that any use of magic automatically results
in a loss of nature.

-54 – Level 5. By this stage the demon has full control over the possessed character. There is
now no way back for the host except exorcism. The character will never positively
modify his nature except if he is subjected to exorcism. He is no longer subject to any of
the rules stated under any of the previous level of this table as he has become a demon.
Playing a character who is far down the path of possession can be quite rewarding, a hectic experience
if handled well. The character may not even be aware of the demon's influences, and his friends will
notice how his behavior seems to change dramatically. It may even be that one member of the group
suspects a malign presence, whereas the others have not idea what he is raving about. Is he going mad
or is there really something strange about their companion?

The Mark of Darkness
"Within my heart, a bottomless pit, dark as pitch, an unpiercable darkness that will not go away."
- From Inquisitor Pedro del Santiago's interrogation log. A possessed heretic's confession.

As the Darkness spreads throughout the possessed, his body starts to change - the Mark of Darkness is
imprinted on the poor host. The changes vary from host to host, from demon to demon. Still – some
traits remain the same.

A rapid decrease in body mass and a rapid increase in body mass are common traits of possession.
As the Darkness spreads throughout its host body, the demon changes the body's metabolism in a
profound way. The changes are so profound, so abysmal that the host body reacts violently with
changing its mass.

Many loose their complexion, their body taking on a white, opaque quality. On a cursory
examination the subject seems extremely pale, almost like a dead man. Closer inspection will prove that
the opaque skin almost seems be tightly drawn over an ebony surface. One almost get the impression
that scratching the skin ever so lightly will reveal a shining black layer beneath.
But for some, the Darkness leaves a more brutal mark on their body. As the Darkness spreads
through its host, it contorts the host body. From the host body's bones, abnormalities grows piercing
muscles, sinews and the skin. The Darkness contorts the muscles, metamorphosing the host body into a
morbid parody of mankind.

As the host is subjected to the terrible agony of metamorphosis, as its skin ruptures, its muscles
contort, and its bones grow abnormalities, the demon learns to savor the pain, savoring it as proof of its
existence. Soon it will come to enjoy the tickling of rupturing skin, giggling in ecstasy as blood trickles
down its body.

Each time the demon harboring inside a character changes level of possession due to a drop in
Nature, the control player should make an attribute roll using the character's PHY. Modify the chance
of success by with the new level of possession, apply the difficulty levels below, and cross-index the
Effect to the Mark of Darkness Table. The results on the table are not immediate, but start showing
within a few hours.

The new level of possession influences the chance of success in the same way as Knowledge Levels
influence an attribute roll. Apply the modifications as follows:

Level of Possession Modify PHY with
1 +4
2 +2
3 ±0
4 PHY x 0,75
5 PHY x 0,25

When you have applied the Level of Possession's effect on the PHY roll, other factors may influence the
chance of success. If several factors apply, always use the one with the severest difficulty level.
Difficulty Level Change of level caused by…
Normal …accepting demonic aid voluntarily.
Fairly difficult …having to accept demonic aid involuntarily.
Difficult …casting a spell of level 5 or higher.
Very difficult …having lost 3 points of Nature or more in one go.

MARK OF DARKNESS TABLE
Effect Result
6+ Nothing happens.
Effect Result
3 – 5 Marked by the Darkness. Within two weeks a stain the shape of the Darkness' symbol
will show up on a discrete part of your body. It is up to the Narrator to decide the
location of the stain and its size. Only by revealing unusually much bare flesh can the
stain be seen by other persons, and it is rarely any larger than a large mole.

0 – -1 Sickly pallor. You start looking unhealthy as your skin pales taking on a sick tinge.
Even though the effect is not immediate, it is a rather quick process as it takes only a
few days. No matter how much time your character spends outdoors, the sickly pallor
will not go away.

-2 – -3 Hair loss. Your hair starts falling off. In large handfuls you are able to pull it off your
head. Large patches of your body hair comes off, too. Within a week or two your skin is
completely devoid of body hair, smooth as a baby's behind, never to grow out again.

-4 – -5 The shedding of nails. The nails on your hands start to fall off. First they turn bluish
black, as if hit hard by a hammer of suchlike. When a few days have passed it loosens
by the nail fold, and within a further couple of days it will simply fall off never to be
replaced by a new nail. You do not loose all nails in one go, but they all fall out over the
duration of a month or so. While the whole process of shedding nails is uncomfortable,
it is not downright painful.

-6 – -7 Digit withering. The outer bend of one of your digits, which one is the Narrator's choice,
simply wither away

-8 – -9 Obesity. Your character quickly gains an immense weight. He simply cannot stop
eating. Within the course of a month he has tripled his original weight. The obesity has
a detrimental effect on his physique, causing his PHY and AGL to drop by 2. They can,
however, never drop below 3 due to a character's obesity. Remember to adjust your
character's secondary attributes accordingly.

-10 – -11 Frailty. In a matter of three to four weeks your character looses so much weight that he
becomes underweight. His bones start protruding, and no matter how much he eats he is
unable to gain any weight. The underweight character gains an additional +1 to his
AGL score, though it may never increase AGL above 16. Due to the character's frailty
he no longer has the same resistance to damage. Recalculate the character's Endurance
as if his PHY was one lower than its actual value.

-12 – -13 Slithering snakes. It begins with a tingling sensation all over your body. Within a short
while the sensation is replaced with an itch that turns into a burning pain. Then your
skin starts to crawl. Literally. It looks as if you have slithering snakes, the length of a
finger, constantly moving underneath your skin. This painful process lasts up to an hour
(the Narrator's discretion), leaving your skin all wrinkled where the snakes have traced a
track across you. The process leaves you seriously deformed, and with a light wound
(see the rulebook page 70) at no specific body part.

-14 – -15 Ruptured skin. Your character's skin ruptures revealing part of the possessing demon's
true form. Your character experiences severe pain as his skin starts to withdraw. The
process lasts for 6 to 12 hours, after which the character has suffered a light wound (see
the rulebook page 70) to the body part where the skin withdraws.
Effect Result
For a character possessed by a Purgat may shed the skin on a hand revealing a scaled,
clawed talon.

-16 and less Skeletal deformation. As the demon's power courses through your body, your skeleton
starts growing, changing rapidly. The skeletal changes lasts between 12 to 24 hours.
During this period your character is immobilized by pain. Writhing in agony he can do
nothing while it lasts. The exact result is up to the Narrator to decide, but in the end the
result of this abnormal bone growth will be that your character has suffered a serious
wound (see the rulebook page 70) to the body are where the skeletal deformation has
occurred.

An example of a skeletal deformation may be that one of the character's arms change
into a sharp, pointy bone growth that may be used in combat. In this situation the
character may be granted with Skill Level 1 with this new weapon.
It could be possible to opt for a more dramatic effect. Because of the abnormal bone
growth in your character's chest region, his ribcage splits open like a ripe fruit. With a
loud crack and killing pain his innards are on display.

Becoming a demon
"Now I have become Death, the undoer of Worlds."
– spoken by Raal upon shedding his host body

Once a willing host has reached a negative nature of -41 or an unwilling host has fallen to -54 the
demon within has gained full control. The host is now subject to its whims and will. On the other hand,
he is also able to make use of the demon's powers and abilities. In a willing host, demon and host are for
all intents and purposes regarded as one. In an unwilling host, the demon is in control. However
depending on the demon, he may or may not allow the host to retain some semblance of control.
Everything from now on depends on the demon's individual objectives.

Once a character is completely under a demon's control the player must have a talk with the
Narrator. The first thing to be decided upon is whether or not the player should to continue playing the
character. It is up to the Narrator to decide this. It depends on whether he wants a demon player
character in his narrative or not. If he does, he can let the player continue to play the demon. If not, the
demon becomes a Narrator character and the player lose all control over him.

Much of the former character's life is forgotten. At least that which was experienced before the
demon awoke. The character is now an agent of the Darkness, and will have to be modified. He will
take on a new personality with new motives, but to compensate for this he will also be granted a number
of new abilities that should dramatically increase his power. The player and the Narrator have to decide
how much remains of the former character's self, and how much has been changed to accommodate the
demon inside. The character's alliances will change and he will have a brand new set of powerful
masters – the Dark Inheritors.

When the demon first assumes control it is still weak from its struggles with the host. It has not yet
assumed all the powers inherent to him. It has also yet to establish proper communications with its
masters. This is a perilous time. Should the possession be discovered by a member of the Church at this
point the life of the demon will most likely be forfeit as the inquisition will swiftly hunt it down. The
demon's first task then, is to establish contact with its dark masters. Once this has been accomplished it
will carry out its objectives, which the Narrator decide. The objectives are an inherent part of the
demon's nature and are the very reason for its existence. It is appropriate that these objectives are in
some way connected with the past life of the character. It is important that the demon character is able
to continue playing as part of the same group of characters. Whether as an evil agent who manipulates
his former friends into aiding his dark cause, or as a new and powerful ally to a group of characters all
working for the Darkness.
The process of modifying a character into a demon is fairly similar to the later stages of creating the
original character. New personality and new motives must be decided upon in close cooperation with the
Narrator, as well as choosing powers and noting down the attributes and areas of knowledge which the
demon has in its true form (see below for more on the demon's true form). Each demon is described with
a number of sections, similar to the ones in the main rulebook under the Creating a character section,
which should help you to create your demon character.
The process for creating a demon character is made up of steps, to make the character you simply go
through the steps one by one, noting down the information on your character sheet as you go.
STEP 1: DETERMINE OBJECTIVES
Unlike player characters, demons are not born into life without purpose or a role. Whereas player
characters have to decide upon a career and motives in life, these are inherent to a demon's nature. Its
sole mission in life is to further the Darkness' cause. The only question is which way it will serve,
dictated by its objectives. A demon's objectives are the tasks communicated to it by its dark masters
while it is still unborn. The objectives are the cornerstones of the demon's existence. Everything else
about him will be designed to enable it to fulfil its role. You, the player, should think long and hard
about what objective you decide to give to a demon character. Discuss your choices with the Narrator to
ensure that you create a character you wish to play yourself and one that fits with the Narrator's further
plans for his narrative. In the end it is up to the Narrator to decide how many objectives the newly
created demon is to have. Objectives vary somewhat between the various types of demons and are
described accordingly. You are of course welcome to create your own, as long as both you and your
Narrator can agree that they suit the demon type in question.

STEP 2: DETERMINE PERSONALITY

While some of the character's original personality may remain, depending on whether or not the demon
allows it to (i.e. basically your choice), the original personality description is not longer valid. Demons
have their own twisted personalities that replace what was there before. The player creates the demon's
personality in much the same way as for the old character – with one exception. The demon's
personality will be tied to its objectives. A demon with the objective of infiltrating the Church will not
be bold and destructive, for example, as this would soon reveal him for what he truly was.

BOLD-CAUTIOUS. This is slightly different to the equivalent paradox in the main rulebook. For a
demon character it relates to the way in which missions are carried out. A bold demon prefers its true
form and will not bother to hide its low Nature. These demons prefer to be very obvious about what
they are and what they are doing. A cautious demon, on the other hand, is primarily occupied with
remaining undiscovered. It will go to great lengths to avoid the Inquisition's unwelcome attention.
Cautious demons are therefore most often found infiltrating. Bold demons are more suited to raiding and
pillaging, as well as to leading the dark armies.

DESTRUCTIVE-PRECISE. Once again, these two contrasts relate to how a demon character will
approach his objectives. A destructive demon delights in ruin and catastrophe. It is prone to destroying
entire villages in pursuit of a single man, and favors grand, flashy spells that cause a lot of damage.
Precise demons, on the other hand, are careful not to affect anything not directly related to their
objective. If recovering an ancient scripture from the heart of a cathedral library it will carefully leave
all the other books untouched. Demons of either inclination can be given any objectives, but precise
demons do tend to attract less attention.

SADISTIC-MASOCHISTIC. It is not in the demon's nature to be merciful. Yet, all are not directly
sadistic either. A sadistic demon finds pleasure in inflicting damage on others. It will treat its underlings
with complete contempt and disrespect, and enjoy sending them into misery. The masochistic demon
wallows in its own pain. As the host body goes through agony the demon learns to like the pain. A
masochistic demon will often adorn its host body with body piercings and tattoos, enjoying every
sensation pain.

SCHEMING-BLUNT. Will the demon do the dirty work itself, or will it spin an intricate web of
intrigues? That is the basic question raised by this paradox. The scheming demon will do the latter,
preferring to step onto the scene at the moment when the intrigues pan out. While spinning the web the
demon will keep a low profile and always stay in its host shape. It is of utmost importance that its true
nature and goals are never uncovered. The blunt demon, on the other hand, may have an almost
complete disregard for whether his true nature and intentions are uncovered. Speed and efficiency is
most important.

ZEALOUS-JADED. Zealous demons are completely consumed by their devotion to the Darkness.
They despise their human form as a perversion of their dark beauty. These demons will not stand to see
the Church go unopposed, they will let no slight against the Darkness pass. Furthermore they will do
everything in their power to turn everybody around them to their way of thinking. Such demons usually
make excellent preachers and teachers. Jaded demons are more controlled. While devoted to the
Darkness, they temper their passions with a cool and collected head. Jaded demons will only work for
the success of precise mission objectives, and if a dark coven is destroyed by templars while this is
going on, so be it.

STEP 3: DETERMINE POWERS
Once you know the demon's objectives you can give it a few powers to help you achieve these goals.
While most of the powers could probably be replicated through the use of a spell, demonic powers have
the advantage of not requiring a roll to succeed, nor risking a backlash, and a duration which is far
greater than that of most spells. It is up to the Narrator to decide what powers the new demon character
will have, and how many, depending on how powerful he wants the demon character to be. Three or
four powers is suitable for most demons and only a rare few will have more or less than this number. It
is important that the demon's powers are suitable to its objectives and personality. Demons can only use
their demonic powers when they are in their true form (see below). This may be either partial or full.
Apart from this requirement there are no other restrictions and demons may use their powers at will. For
a more complete explanation see 'Determining true form statistics' below. The powers are described in
terms of EFFECT, AREA OF EFFECT, RANGE, DURATION, and FORM. The first five of these are
identical to their equivalents in magic except that duration may be 'permanent' or 'discretionary' i.e.
lasting as long as the demon desires, for more information see the Magic section of the main rulebook.
FORM describes the requirement of form, whether partial or full.

Evil eye
FORM: Partial
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Line of sight
DURATION: Instant/permanent
EFFECT: When this power is used the victim seems to see the demon's eyes glowing bright green
and he feels a sudden sense of unease compelling him away from the demon's presence. The victim must
succeed with a MEN-roll with DL -8 or immediately leave the demon's vicinity. He will also feel
inclined to stay away from the demon in the future and will try to avoid him if he can.

Steal mind
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Touch
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: This power is used to erase the victims memory. To use it the demon must touch the
victim with both hands on the head. The demon can then erase any offensive memories, picking and
choosing at will. The effect is permanent and the victim will be left with gaps in his memory.

Suggestion
FORM: Partial
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Line of sight
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: The demon uses this power to plant a command into the victims mind. This must be a one
sentence instruction. The victim must then succeed with a MEN-roll with -4 DL. If this fails the power
will not take effect until nightfall. The victim will then feel compelled to carry out the instruction to the
letter. When he completes the instructions he will return to bed and fall asleep, awaking with no memory
of his nocturnal activities.

Doom
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Line of sight
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: When he uses this power the demon points out one individual and utters a terrible curse
which only the victim can hear. The victim has been doomed to die soon, and only after he has destroyed
everything he holds dear. When this power is used the victim must make a MEN-roll with -4 DL, if this
fails the victim will grow paranoid and frightened. He will begin to believe that everyone has turned
against hi and will go to great lengths to protect himself. Eventually he will descend completely into
madness. The exact effects are at the Narrator's discretion. The only way of preventing the madness is
to slay the demon which uttered the curse.

Fly
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Self
RANGE: Personal
DURATION: Discretionary
EFFECT: Many demons are winged in their true form. For some, these extra limbs are not merely
for show. With the aid of the dark magic some demons can lift their unnaturally heavy bodies and fly
unhindered. A demon which decides to use this power can fly at a rate equal to their sprinting speed
until they become too tired, in a similar way to sprinting.

Grow
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Self
RANGE: Personal
DURATION: Discretionary
EFFECT: This allows a demon in his true form to both grow and shrink in size. He can go from
being sixteen tall, to being small enough to slip through a crack under the door. When a demon
character wants to use this power he can grow up to twice his normal height, or shrink to about the size
of a dormouse. His strength decreases or increases in direct proportion to his size. So if he doubles in
size his strength will also double.

Twist nature
FORM: Partial
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Line of sight
DURATION: Discretionary
EFFECT: This power allows the demon to twist somebody's nature, making them appear to be
something which their not. When he uses this power the demon can make his victim's target appear to be
any value he chooses. So that anybody who can sense his nature will believe it to be what the demon has
chosen. This power could make Dantero appear to be an enlightened follower of the Darkness.

Bloodhound
FORM: Partial
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Infinite on land
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: This power allows the demon to mark its victim so that it and its followers can find it
wherever it may be. Anybody who the demon wants to be able to find the victim will be able to sense
him wherever he goes, with one exception. The power does not work on water, not does it work if the
victim puts a mile of water between himself and his pursuers, by crossing an ocean for example.
However, as soon as the victim is back on dry land, or moves back within range, the pursuers will be
able to find him again.

Gift
FORM: Partial
AREA OF EFFECT: One person
RANGE: Ten miles
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: This is a benevolent power only used to reward the most loyal of a demon's followers. It
can only be used once and will remain in effect for as long as the rewarded servant remains alive.
Whenever the servant finds himself in trouble he can call upon the aid of his master and can then
immediately cast one spell using the demon's magic knowledge level, even if he would normally be
unable to cast spells. If he fails the demon must resist the backlash as if it had cast the spell itself.

Hallowed ground
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Ten square meters
RANGE: Touch
DURATION: Permanent
EFFECT: This is a very special power which is possessed only by the most prominent of the servants
of Darkness. A demon with this power has the ability to bless a small area of ground, making it the
domain of Darkness. In order to use this spell the demon must complete an arduous ritual which lasts
from sunset to sunrise. When this has been completed the are he has blessed gains a nature of -41.
Anyone in the area gains all the advantages and disadvantages of this, as if he had this nature himself.
This is in addition to any advantages he gains from his own nature. (Note: Narrators should be very
careful about allowing this power in the game as it makes any agents of Darkness on the hallowed
ground extremely powerful. You should make it clear that demon characters should not go round
blessing ground left right and centre).

STEP 4: DETERMINE TRUE FORM ABILITIES
Once you have completed the first three steps you are finished describing half of the demon, but there is
another side to the demon, too, that of its true form. The true form is the demon incarnate. As long as it
remains hidden within the host body the frailties and shortcomings of its host restrict its abilities. Only
in its true is the demon able to wield its full powers. While within the host body, the demon can only use
the attributes and abilities of the host. Its attributes, knowledge areas, movement rate, and special
abilities are those of the host body. To use its demonic strengths and powers to full effect the demon
must change into its true form. Unfortunately, there are places where a seven feet terror of the Darkness
may look slightly conspicuous, and even if the demon looks fairly normal in its true shape it is
impossible to disguise its real nature while in true shape.

Along with the original statistics of the host character, you have to generate those of the demon's true
form. You should therefore keep the possessed character's record sheet and use a new one for the demon
character.

The demon can also change into its true form at the will. The transformation takes an action round.
The demon may transform into its fully or only partially. In its true form the demon is able to use all its
demonic powers. Its attributes and knowledge areas are those recorded on the demon's character sheet.
While in this shape it cannot make use of any of its host body's attributes. knowledge areas, etc. It may
change back into its host body at will, something that takes an action round.

Changing partially into true form only lasts for an instant. The demon retains its host body for all
intent and purpose, but reveals its true nature to those it is trying to affect with its powers. The demon
can only go through this transformation when using a power that requires it to reveal its true form
partially. The transformation remains while the power is being used. This means that some powers
could be used in the very halls of the inquisition with only the victim being aware the demonic presence.
There are several advantages to using the demon's true form. The demon is far stronger and more
powerful than its host, and it allows the demon to use its demonic powers at will. The advantages of the
host body are less obvious but just as potent. Demons use their host bodies for disguise. In these bodies
they possess social skills which allow them to integrate themselves into human society, gaining them
access to allies and the bastions of the Church. In addition to this there is one important power which is
inherent to all demon kind. This power is unique in that, unlike the others, it may only be used by the
demon when in its host form. This is the power to disguise its Nature, something that is of vital
importance for any demon trying to avoid the attentions of the Church.

Becoming a Cerit
""
– ???

Cerits are demons awoken from their slumber by the cruelties of fighting men. In their true shape they
are Cyrus' warmasters, humanoid monsters bearing little semblance with their former human shapes.
Cerits are woken in cruel knight templars, ruthless sovereigns, and sadistic mercenary captains. Waging
war from the first line these demons can never live inside human settlements, their minds set to only one
thing: destruction in the name of the Dark Inheritors.

THE EFFECTS OF POSSESSION
Cerits follow the path to possession as described above. At the various levels of possession the
slumbering demon within grants the following bonuses to its host.

Level 1: Rage is building up inside the possessed. Embracing it makes him a fierce, yet cruel,
warrior. If accepting the rage's demonic aid the host receives a +5 when making an attack roll.
However, embracing the rage makes it impossible to do anything but attack, so choosing to accept the
demonic aid also means the host can choose no other combat strategy but Offensive. A raging character
does, in addition, never parry despite what the result of the combat's development says.

Level 2: Rage is turned to howling fury as the slumbering Cerit is growing more aware. Unlike the
general rules for level 2 possession, the host of a Cerit does not have to make a MEN roll in order to
resist the demonic aid. Yet, if he chooses to accept the Cerit's aid it may have dire consequences. Letting
the howling fury flow through his body the host receives a +6 when making an attack roll. Like the rage
at level 1, the howling fury reduces the character's mode of attack both in the choice of combat strategy
and by the fact that he cannot parry. Adrenaline is racing through the host body, making it next to
impossible to shake himself out of the state of fury. If the player wants his character to break out of the
howling fury, he must make a MEN roll. If the roll fails, the possessed character remains in the state of
fury, but the player may try to make a new roll the next action round. Making the roll lets the host break
out of the trancelike state of howling fury.

While in the state of howling fury the character is a menace to both himself and those around. As
long as there are enemies within sight the possessed character will continue to attack them. When there
are no more enemies around, the infuriated character will turn on his friends unleashing his anger upon
them. As long as he is unable to break out of the state of howling fury he will indiscriminately attack the
friendly character closest to him if there are no more enemies left to fight. The possessed will continue
to fight his friends until he makes a MEN roll and breaks lose from the howling fury.

It is worth noting that the possessed character's nature does not continue to drop by -1 each action
round the character is under the influence of the howling fury. It only drops once until the next time the
host embraces the Darkness within its heart, unleashing howling fury upon his enemies anew. In game
terms this means that the character's nature will drop by -1 if, after making the MEN roll to break free
of the fury, the character chooses to make use of its demonic aid again.

Level 3: The howling fury has become a hurricane of wrath granting its host a hefty +7 when making
attack rolls. The hurricane of wrath is subject to the same rules as described for the howling fury at
level 2 of the possession. In addition, the power unleashed by the wrath may be too much for the
wretched body of the possessed. Roll to check for the Mark of Darkness with an additional +4 bonus to
the roll.

Level 4: Rage is coursing through the host body all the time now, making him testy and quite
aggressive. During combat he is subject to the hurricane of wrath as described above with two
significant differences. First of all the bonus when making attack rolls are raised to +8. Secondly the
rules of disfigurement change slightly. He no longer gets the +4 bonus to the die roll.

Level 5: The Cerit can no longer be contained within the host body. Upon reaching a possession level
5 the demon will shed its host body and the Cerit will stand forth in its true shape. An unnatural ripping
sound can be heard as the dead or dying carcass of the host body, like a ripe fruit, is torn apart from
within spraying putrid blood and puss on those standing nearby. Covered in the blood of its former host
the Cerit stands forth, content with having shed its former host. From now on it can never choose to
assume the form of its host body again.
Anyone witnessing this hatching must make a horror roll. This is a truly horrifying experience,
horror level 15.

OBJECTIVES
The Cerit's prime purpose in life is to further the Darkness' ends. It is born for destruction, nothing else
matters to it. Cyrus uses Cerits to wage war. From the first lines of battle they fight the forces of the
Church, ever expanding the Darkness' domains. Below are a few objectives that are typical to Cerits.
Waging war: The objective is simple; expand the borders of the Darkness' domains by waging war
on those closest to it. It is all about crushing all resistance, showing no mercy, and possibly capturing a
town or a castle.

Unholy crusade: The Church must be crushed! Deep within the Church territories a particularly
unholy site has been occupied and desecrated by the Church. It is your task to lead a crusade deep into
enemy territory to regain control of the holy site, possibly fighting back the enemy so that the unholy
relic found at the site may be recovered and brought back into safety.

Crush all resistance:
Seek and destroy: A high-ranking officer among the military ranks of the Church must be tracked
down and killed. This can be anything from a regular captain whose troops threaten the Darkness'
domains, through the particularly pious and efficient knight templar, to the fundamentalist Inquisitor on
the trail of a highly important Dark Priest or coven.
PERSONALITY
Cerits are rarely cautious and almost without exception destructive. It is simply in their nature to
destroy. The Cerit is also often sadistic.

POWERS
There are some powers that are unique to Cerits. These are in addition to those listed earlier.

Howl of the Fury
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Everyone within range
RANGE: 5 meters
DURATION: Instant
EFFECT: Letting itself be consumed by the rage burning deep inside its heart, the Cerit makes a
dreadful, ululating cry. Everyone within range must make an unmodified MEN-roll. Failing the roll they
are dumb-stricken by the sound. Their heads ringing they will use the next 1D3 action rounds (roll for
each character affected individually) trying to re-establish their orientation. During the period they can
choose no other combat strategy than defensive, and all parry rolls are made at DL -3. In addition, they
get to make no counter attack.

Life in Death
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Self
RANGE: Personal
DURATION:
EFFECT: By making a STR-roll DL -3 the action round after having killed an enemy, the Cerit may
rip it apart drenching itself in the victim's blood. This takes an action round. At the beginning of the
next action round the Cerit will notice the difference. It has now healed the equivalent of two flesh
wounds.
Witnessing Life in Death, seeing someone newly killed being ripped apart, is a horrifying experience.
Anyone witnessing it must make a horror roll with horror level 15.
TRUE FORM ABILITIES
The true form abilities of the Cerit are described on page 176 of the rulebook.
Becoming a Purgat
""
– ???
Purgats are the Darkness' avengers. They are scheming spinners of intrigues. Revealing their true nature
as demons is never an option. Even into destruction they will deny all charges. Purgats prefer the
shadows, the peace and quiet being incognito supplies them with. For their task is usually not direct
action, but as catalyst for intrigues and schemes in the name of their dark masters.
THE EFFECTS OF POSSESSION
Purgats follow the path to possession as described above. At the various levels of possession the
slumbering demon within grants the following bonuses to its host.
Level 1:
Level 2:
Level 3:
Level 4:
Level 5:
OBJECTIVES
PERSONALITY
POWERS
TRUE FORM ABILITIES
The true form abilities of the Purgat are described on page 170 of the rulebook. In addition to those
described there, all Purgats possess a special power that can only be used in its host form:
Disguise nature
FORM: Host
AREA OF EFFECT: Self
RANGE: Personal
DURATION: Discretionary
EFFECT: This power will disguise the demon's nature from any but the most powerful of the
Church. Anybody who is not at least Saintly has no chance of discovering the demons nature. Those
who are saintly or above may attempt to determine the demon's nature by rolling under their nature
divided by 4. E.g., someone with a nature of 41 would have to roll under 10. If the roll fails the Nature
will appear to be 0.

Becoming an Arcat
""
– ???
Arcats are the Dark Inheritors' plague spreaders. The Arcat's true form body is riddled with festering
boils and suppurating pustules. An air of decay and the stench of death cling to their true form. In the
name of the Dark Inheritors the Arcat spreads disease and epidemics wherever it travels' may take it.
THE EFFECTS OF POSSESSION
OBJECTIVES
PERSONALITY
POWERS
DISEASES
The Black Plague
Chicken Pox
TRUE FORM ABILITIES
Incite epidemic
FORM: Full
AREA OF EFFECT: Everyone within range
RANGE: 100 meters
DURATION: Special
EFFECT:
The Iron Hold
Above us, straddling across the rocky ridge of the mountain, the Iron Hold stood against the eclipsed
sun, its five unnatural towers thrust skywards like the taloned fingers of a deformed hand. At the base
of the gray mountain the Iron Gate was, as it had been the past decade, open; a gaping maw in the
side of the mountain. From the far side, in the darkness beyond the raised gate, we could sense
innumerable evil shapes flickering by. Through the gate the most inhuman, deep rumbling sound
could be heard, and atop the mountain a hold as gray as the rock itself and as jagged as the peaks
surrounding it. We had reached the goal of our travels: the steadfast of Darkness reincarnate, a
fortress darker than Death, the Lair of the Dark Martyr.
Deep inside we knew the Dark Martyr sat on his razor throne plotting the downfall of mankind,
brooding over his next move in the eternal game of chess between good and evil, between the Church
and the Darkness.
– Kel Varnsen's travel diary
Description
"…its five unnatural towers thrust skywards like the taloned fingers of a deformed hand."
– Kel Varnsen travel diary
As the Iron Gate was opened the Dark Martyr emerged triumphant. Beholding the scene in front of him
he savored the moment he had been waiting for for such a long time. It was the moment he had planned
and prepared for since the day his broken body gained life in death on the far side of the Iron Gate, the
day the Dark Inheritors had enslaved him to eternal torment. Every detail for the day had been planned,
and the plan was panning out just perfectly. Behind Cyrus his personal entourage of demons bred for a
single purpose – to raise an immense fortress that would sit atop the Iron Gate. A hold from whence he
would control the access to and from the realms of Darkness, from whence he would decide who to let
through the Iron Gate and who to deny access to the lands of mankind.
Today Cyrus rules the Darkness' domains from his gray fortress, spinning an unending web of
intrigues and treachery across the lands of mankind, a web that extends across the human lands, into the
north, and through the opened portcullis of the Iron Gate. From atop his razor throne the Dark Martyr
receives word from his agents across the world, holding the fate of mankind within the palm of his hand,
biding his time, waiting for the moment when he will unleash his dark forces on mankind in a final
felling blow that will crush all resistance.
Beyond the Iron Hold
"…and atop the mountain a hold as gray as the rock itself and as jagged as the peaks surrounding
it."
– Kel Varnsen's travel diary
Last time the Darkness swarmed across the human lands, its demonic hordes were aided by a barbaric
folk from the north. Half-naked, clad in nothing but pelts and fur clothing, these barbarian tribes are
said to have been fierce and brutal warriors. With their long hair and enormous beards they charged
relentlessly into battle for the Dark Inheritors with complete disregard for their lives. In berserker rage
they hacked their way through enemy ranks, taking tenfold of felling blows to stop them. In crude,
wooden chariots drawn by immense, tusked, hairy beast they slew and trampled anyone getting in their
way. Grotesque beasts pulled huge, wheeled war towers, moving engines of Death. The barbarian tribes
were unstoppable, their thirst for blood unquenchable, their hunger for killing insatiable, until they
simply fade into history.
No-one truly knows what happened to these people. Some claim they were slain to the last specimen
by vengeful troops marching under the One's banner. Other claim the barbarians deserted their evil
masters for a dispute over the spoils of war. Yet other again, claim the tribes from the north realized the
evil they were doing, washing their hands they left the demonic hordes on the battlefield and marched
back home. This, they claim, was the true reason for the Darkness' defeat by human forces.
Whatever the truth might be rumors that on the far side of the Iron Hold a new barbarian hold is
marching up. That a new alliance between the Dark Inheritors and the barbarian chieftains have been
forged, that the barbarian hordes once more are preparing to mount an attack on mankind. There have
even been claims of seeing barbarians hosts mounted on their hideous beasts of war, among the ranks of
the Armies of the Darkness. However, such rumors are unsubstantiated and no one truly knows from
whence they originate. Yet, there is no doubt that an army is marching up on the far side of the Iron
Hold. Looking at the Lair of the Dark Martyr from the south, the sky is colored orange from a myriad
of campfires on the other side of the mountain ridge, and the rumbling noise of an army preparing for
war can be heard across the mountains.
Lady Tanda
Beautiful and deceptive, Lady Tanda has taken a hold of the Prince de Lancre's court from within. Her
eyes the most striking emerald green; her flowing golden hair, perfection; and her small teeth makes the
most radiantly treacherous smile. Only a glimpse of her smile can make a man fall in love, or make
shivers run down the spine of anyone with knowledge of magic. For behind the glittering emerald eyes
lies the soul of a deceitful creature, an agent of the Darkness, a sorceress grandeur.
Lady Tanda, with her delicate nature, and gentle ways, has spun a web of intrigues extending from
within the very heart of Prince de Lancre's court, across the entire province of Avernus. By using agents
whom she has tied to herself by use of her femininity, threats, or through joint allegiance with the
Darkness, she is preparing the province for the Darkness onslaught.

In addition to being a skillful wizard Lady Tanda is, in fact, possessed by Umbaar the Jeselite. Her
possession has reached level 3 and she is by far a willing host. But why has her allegiance with the
Darkness not been exposed. Prince de Lancre is a harsh ruler. With no love for anyone he rules Avernus
with an iron hand. Yet, his weak spot is his niece, Lady Tanda. Since killing her parents, Prince de
Lancre's older brother and true heir to Avernus' throne, the Prince has been in charge of the young
Lady. His heart was ridden by guilt over having killed his brother. Making sure Lady Tanda was well
was his way of atoning for his sins. When she fell sick with the Black Plague, the Prince grew
desperate. If she died he was convinced he would be visited by the ghost of the past, driving him from
his mind and from the throne. In desperation he turned to a local witch. She rescued Lady Tanda, but
little did de Lancre know that she had also planted the seed of a demon within the young girl's heart.
There have been occasions when the young woman has been threatened with being exposed for her
secret. Every time a representative of the Church has made such allegations, Prince de Lancre has made
sure they disappear. In his heart he knows there is something wrong with his protegee, but for the
feeling of guilt over her parents he can never make himself admit to her guilt. And so the Lady Tanda is
allowed to spin her dark web across Avernus, preparing the way for her true master: the Dark Martyr
himself.

The Hellhounds
Never far from her, are the Lady Tanda's two unnaturally large bloodhounds. Gigantic beasts with
glittering white teeth set in their immense jaws, dark eyes like bottomless pits set deep in their skulls,
enormous paws with sharp ebony claws, powerful muscles bulging, and short reddish brown fur. Even
the most ferocious of Prince de Lancre's hunting dogs flinch and flee when they see Lady Tanda's two
dogs, even though she always rein them with massive iron chains.

In truth, Lady Tanda's two dogs are not of this world. They are Hellhounds summoned from the
realm beyond the Iron Gate, and bound to this world and the sorceress will by magic alone. They are
terrifying fighting beasts, tapping into the Darkness that flows through the opened Iron Gate. Their
statistics are as those of large dogs (the rulebook page 108), but the Hellhounds have no fear of fire. In
fact fire makes them good. Whenever taking damage from fire (as described on page 71 in the
rulebook), the Hellhounds heal a flesh wound instead. This is regardless of whether the fire is natural or
magical. However, if the fire damage also inflicts normal damage, like for instance if the dogs are hit by
a flaming torch, they still take damaged from the blow.

Seeing the dogs afire is a mind numbing experience. Characters witnessing this should make a horror
roll with horror level 8.

Raal the Purgat
The over-zealous Inquisitor Raul del la Mara never knew that Raal the Purgat had taken hold of his
heart. His colleagues accused him of being brutal, del la Mara never listened to them. Several times he
had been made to flee cities, raging mobs chasing him for accusing the wrong people of heresy. The
Marquises had once tried to excommunicate him, without del la Mara admitting to his own cruelty.
When he started taking pleasure for inflicting pain on his interrogation subjects, he saw it as the One
blessing his work. Unknowingly he spun himself deeper and deeper into the Darkness web as he started
ignoring the daily mass, and stopped saying prayers. He had not lost his faith, he knew, he simply had
no time to pray or attend mass. His service to the One was greater, required more devotion to the art of
interrogation, to the dark cells and the terrible torture chambers.

That the Darkness had taken hold in his heart, del la Mara could not see. That a demon was
harboring deep inside his heart he never suspected, and neither did any other men of the Church. So
when the demon took hold of its host body and banished del la Mara's soul into cold nothingness,
nobody suspected foul play. del la Mara, or rather Raal the Purgat. That del la Mara had been both
impressively tall and gaunt and always been pallid and pale made the changing even harder to detect.
All of this combined with the fact that del la Mara had always operated on his own, made no one neither
detect nor suspect the change of nature.

During the years of his service for his dark masters, Raal has had a primary object: that of hunting
down and killing extremely important members of the Church's upper echelons. The Church in turn is
chasing him, but do not suspect that the killer may be within their own ranks, let alone that he is del la
Mara, the over-zealous Inquisitor. The demon's two major advantages are the guise as del la Mara and
the special ability that it has been blessed with. Having shed its host body, the demon can assume
ethereal form and inhabit inanimate objects. Or rather, not just any odd inanimate object, but in a
mockingly evil gesture towards their bitter enemy the Dark Inheritors have given Raal the ability to
inhabit the Church's crucifixes. This is where he, as long as he is not passing as del la Mara, spend his
time, and this is from where he launches his attacks on those who have been chosen to die by his hand.

CHAPTER 3:
MALACHDRIM – THE
DWINDLING

The time is now!
After years of waiting
The life of Malachdrim
The tale of Malachdrim's fall begins eons before the Great Exile. Malachdrim himself, the fourth and
final of Queen Ketura's consorts, is hundreds of years older than the first human realms. Even before
the Age of Sovereigns Malachdrim was already about with his mischievous business.

The birth
""
– ???
It is said that at the moment of Malachdrim's birth the celestial bodies aligned in front of the sun in a
total eclipse. This was during the Age of the Queen, years ahead of the forming of the human realms,
ages before the Darkness demonic hordes would emerge through the rift in the northern mountains,
hundreds of years prior to the barbaric northern hordes poring across the human lands. It is said at that
moment, when the bodies aligned in front of the sun, the seed of Darkness was sown deep within
Malachdrim's heart, and that the Queen herself shuddered when she gave birth to her fourth and final
consort. Too proud to forsake a consort, and too weak to kill him, she let Malachdrim live despite her
apprehension of misfortune.

In utero
""
– ???
Malachdrim was always of a different heart than his peers. Where the other consorts were deliberate
and controlled, Malachdrim was quick to anger. While the other consorts took their responsibility as
leaders of their kind with great care, keeping themselves secluded from all but their closest advisor,
Malachdrim threw great orgies, mingling freely with all walks of his kin. For within Malachdrim's heart
the drive for hedonism pleasures had already started, a drive that would make his kind's wine-cellars
stocked with strong wines, spicy wines, wines from across the White Sea, and wines from the
southernmost tip of the world. The halls of his underground realm were saturate with thick fumes of
perfume, Malachdrim's merchants being the largest buyers of exotic fragrances across the world.
Immense parties of silk and velvet were imported from the human lands, nothing too expensive for
Malachdrim's kind.
However, the other consorts found all of this in ill taste. Even worse, they found it irresponsible and
made claims to the Queen that Malachdrim was not suited to be one of her consorts, that he did not have
what it took to be an Elfen vassal, that he did not take his responsibilities seriously enough. The Queen,
though, unwilling to admit to Malachdrim's erroneous behavior and deviant disposition, refused to take
the three vassals complaints to heart. And so the seed of dissent was sown among the Elfin vassals, for
Malachdrim knew of the other vassals' complaints through his spies at court. For this he knew, even
among his own he could trust none but himself.
The turning
""
– ???
Seeing dark clouds brewing on the horizon, Malachdrim withdrew from the politics of the Queen's
court, turning to another source of power instead. Slowly, but steadily he tracked forbidden scriptures
across the human lands. This was only years after Marquis Hymeneus had raised the Iron Gate.
Enormous libraries of forbidden scriptures had been suppressed by the Church, but there were still
chaches of manuscripts left in the Darkness' abandoned strongholds. For almost a century he lived
outside his underground realm in quest of new scriptures, for Malachdrim had already acquired the taste
for ultimate power that the Darkness could provide him.
A steady trail of manuscripts and books went back to Malachdrim's domains. Within four human
generations Malachdrim had secured for himself most of the dark scriptures not in the Church's
possession. But within this time he had become somewhat of a horrific legend among the humans. There
were infamous legends of demonic elfs hunting roaming the land in search of forbidden scriptures, and
Malachdrim himself was portrayed as the somewhat of a demon prince himself. Malachdrim's quest was
known even among the Church's upper echelons, and it should not be overlooked as a reason for
Marquis Nuelius' ill-famed mission to the elfen realms.
Even before setting out on his quest in the human lands, Malachdrim had had a distaste for the crude,
barbaric humans and their narrow-minded creed. His distaste was not lessened by the century he spent
among men. He despised their weakness of mind, and regarded them as no more than semi-intelligent
animals. And he never made any effort to hide the true intention of his dark quest. This was when man's
faith in the One was as strongest, and the Church's representatives hunted Malachdrim as a heretic,
perhaps one of the most dangerous of them all. Malachdrim in turn despised mankind for not being able
to see the blessing that the Darkness could grant, finding in their narrow-mindedness and fanaticism
only proof of their limited strength of mind and will. To him their undiscriminating adoration for the
One could equal slavery under the Darkness. For he knew, that with the right mind, with the strength to
resist the Darkness temptations, the dark energy could be channeled into a greater purpose.
That was the true intention of his dark quest.
With the forbidden scriptures he would fashion something that no other elfen vassal had, an art of
inscription that would grant his kind protection from the schemes and intrigues of the other elfen
vassals. Upon returning to his underground realm, Malachdrim set to work on the craft of his kind,
glyptomancy – the art of magically imbued inscriptions.

The ultimate humiliation
""
– ???
Malachdrim's utter scorn for the human race was not lessened when a large delegation one day turned
up at the threshold of the elfen realms. Under the pretense of spreading the gospel of the One to the nonhuman
races, Malachdrim quickly learnt the true intent of the mission. His forays into the human lands
had gone by unnoticed by the other vassals and the Queen. They were too consumed with themselves to
gaze beyond the halls of the Queen's court. Now, when faced with the human insolence of preaching for
a god to replace the Elder, they indulged the inferior humans, turning them away in a resolute, yet firm
manner.

However, as Malachdrim had suspected, the human delegation had other goals. The last night before
the delegation broke camp in front of the massive gates to the elfen realms, a small party stole away into
the depths of the elfin realms. Towards the libraries of Malachdrim they made their way. Their mission
was to completely destroy the forbidden scriptures. Strangely, they succeeded with their mission,
making their way through halls and caverns finding the hidden library of Malachdrim <<Magnus: dette
er en ledetråd inn i boka om alvene, der vi får se at de hadde hjelp fra en gruppe av Gamiel-alver.
Gamiels motiv var å sverte og svekke Malachdrim.>>. Not having realized its immense size, once there
they saw no other way to destroy it but to torch the entire library. The fire should not have spread, but
fate would have it that it spread and set the elfin breeding chambers on fire as well.
Later the Church said heretics among their ranks set fire to the breeding chambers in an attempt to
avoid the unavoidable: the First Elf war.

Malachdrim could finally let his scorn onto mankind. Always among the first ranks in battle he lived
up to the myth of him being a demon lord. Among the human warriors he was simply known as the
Harbinger of Bad Tidings, the Manslayer, or simply the Demon. His wrath was insatiable, his thirst for
human blood unquenchable, and relentless was his march south towards the heart of the Church's realm.
Sharing their progenitor's disdain for humankind, Malachdrim's kind spearheaded the elfen assault. As
the barbaric hordes from beyond the Northern Mountains and the Darkness' demonic hordes had swept
across the land like a scourge, the elfs descended on mankind in a swoop fell.

After over a generation of war, the elfen armies were marched outside mankind's final stronghold: the
city of Ravarra. It was then, in Malachdrim's moment of triumph that his own turned on him again.
Malachdrim's armies, severely depleted from decades of war, were ready to breach the human defenses
when the Queen's herald brought news of a peace treaty. Angered by this treason Malachdrim sought his
Queen's tent, but she was not to budge. It was then, for the first time, that Malachdrim decided to ignore
Queen Ketura's bidding, a decision that almost obliterated his kind. For Ketura sent the other three
vassals' armies to stop Malachdrim from attacking Ravarra. The other vassals were more than ready to
destroy their treasonous peer, ridding themselves of him once and for all. Realizing defeat Malachdrim
called off the assault, but he would not forget this moment for the rest of his life. For Malachdrim, this
was the ultimate humiliation.

The Golden Age
""
– ???
The next millennium until the Second Elf war, was a Golden Age for the elfin realm. The elfs had
captured immense wealth during their thirty year campaign against mankind, and the Church had been
forced to leave the elfs alone in their home among the northern mountains. It was during this age that
Malachdrim perfected the art and craft of glyptomancy. Knowing full well that the other three vassals
were only looking for the right moment to destroy him and his kind, Malachdrim withdrew even more
from the daily affairs of the elfen realm. Only seven times during the next millennia did he emerge from
his own chambers, the last time to protest against the Queen having taken marquis Geniah for lover and
having refused him the right to spawn new kinsmen for the last two hundred years.

And so it came to be that at the end of the Golden Age, Malachdrim would be the second elfen vassal
to be exiled from the elfin realms.

The ultimate treason
""
– ???
Disgusted by Queen Ketura's changing attitude to the inferior humans and completely appalled by her
taking a human lover, Malachdrim considered his time within the elfen realms over. For years he
roamed the world with his kind, thousands upon thousands of elfs travelling from the Northern
Mountains to the southernmost tip of Aretas and Seine. With nowhere to settle, Malachdrim saw an
opening when the sovereigns of Bervoche, Orschild, and Galatien seemed all but defeated. Through his
envoys Malachdrim promised that which none had thought possible: to fight the elfen armies with his
own kind. And so during the Second Elf war elf was for the first time pitted against elf in a life and
death battle none of them had any true vested interest in.

The dice had been rolled. Malachdrim had made the ultimate treason, and sealed the fate of his kind.
After the Second Elf war ended they could never return to the elfen realms. In return for his aid in the
war against the Church and their elfen allies, Malachdrim received Lothren from Lord Cavallius of
Galatien by swearing allegiance to Lord Cavallius. Here Malachdrim and his kind were doomed to live
until the withering has taken the last of his kind leaving only Malachdrim to reside alone, in isolation
through all eternity.
Or so everybody though…

The fey banquet
""
– ???
When Lord Cavallius died in 1196 his son Iraneus succeeded him as lord of Galatien. On his coronation
Lord Iraneus received oaths of allegiance from every fief within his province. That is, every fief except
that of Lothren. Malachdrim sent a human servant to represent him during the coronation ceremony, an
act of open contempt. Not being the one to accept such insolence, Iraneus publicly executed the poor
servant during the following feast. The next day he sent a large delegation, led by his most trusted
lieutenant Marcel del Mare, to subdue the rebellious vassal.

But the Iraneus' envoys are not received with the expect animosity. Rather, Malachdrim receives
them with the greatest pomp and circumstances by the gates of Lothren. del Mare and his men are
surprised, at first suspicious of this wondrous reception, but unease was soon replaced by ease as
Malachdrim throws them the most spectacular feast. del Mare and his aides were to dine by
Malachdrim's table, while his men were to dine with the Malachdrim's men. Well into the third dish the
del Mare sense deceit as every muscle in his body is paralyzed by the poisoned food. Soon every
representative is under the sway of the poison. One by one del Mare's men are slain, but del Mare is
kept alive, new dishes being put on the table in front of him, but Marcel being unable to move a single
muscle. A week later he dies by a table bounding with delicious food.

Only one of the envoys survives. He is given an antidote, and provided with a horse he is to bring the
message back to Lord Iraneus: Malachdrim swore an oath of allegiance to Lord Cavallius. Upon
Cavallius' death he regards himself free of any obligations towards Galatien. From that day on
Malachdrim and his kind was at war with Galatien, considering del Mare's delegation an open act of
war on the Lord of Galatien's behalf.

It would, however, take almost three quarters of a century until blood was being spilt between
Malachdrim and the Lord of Galatien.

The Legend of the Twins
From across the White Sea they arrived, twelve years after their last reported sighting. A large galleon
had ferried them from an unknown island

<<For at legenden om tvillingene ikke skal miste helt troverdighet og forsvinne inn i intetheten som en
noen som kunne vært en kul idé men som nå bare er teit fordi det ikke ble fulgt opp, mener jeg at det er
veldig viktig at vi har med noe om dem i og jakten på dem i denne boka. Personlig mener jeg at vi til og
med bør bygge videre på historien litt. Om du leser introduksjonen på første side "Winter has come to
Merodak" indikerer jeg at det har gått en tid siden hendelsene i Orschild ble skrevet ned. Derfor er det
naturlig med en utvikling når det også gjelder historien om tvillingene. Er du ikke enig?>>
[<< For the legend of the twins should lose all credibility and disappear into nothingness as a
someone who could be a cool idea but now just stupid because it was not followed up, I believe that it is
very important that we have with some of them and search for them in this book. Personally, I think we even
even should build on the story a bit. If you read the introduction on the first page "Winter has come to
Merodach "I indicate that there has been some time since the events of Orschild was written down. Therefore, it
naturally with a trend when it also comes to the story of the twins. Do not you agree? >>]

The exiled realm of Lothren

Lazarus and Galatien

The Wild Hunt of Malachdrim

Beyond the Iron Gate

Playing Malachdrim elfs
These rules expand and replace those printed in the rulebook page 193 'Role-playing an elf' and 'Roleplaying
an elf of Malachdrim's kind'.

Malachdrim runes

Character descriptions


CHAPTER 4: MARQUIS
LAZARUS – PRIDE AND
DISHONOR



<<begin single page color text>>
Of what I'm about to tell, there are almost no words to describe. My journey through the hellish
province of Merodak is a tale I would rather have left untold. What experiences I gained in that
godforsaken land I would dearly have been without, and the deaths of my friends up there I would
rather not speak.

But I have chosen to take the leaf off my tongue, to let the world know of the atrocities in the north,
in the land where the Darkness rules. Alas, but where to begin...
Will this be a tale of three adventurers' wishing to see the world, or should it be a tale of the
blasphemous rituals and the vile acts of the dark priests? Am I to tell you of the land whose people
are dying one piece a day, or maybe I should recount how Algaric met his untimely death, tortured till
life escaped his wretched body in the dungeons of the fallen templars? Could this be a tale of heroic
deeds and of martyr deaths, or will it simply be the testimony of how an entire people is strangled by
their leader and their unholy Church?

I have seen magic wrought in grandeur, I have witnessed human sacrifices, and I have beheld the
horrors that lurks in the shadows. Into the eyes of the darkness' horsemen I have gazed, into the
demon's den I have gone and returned. From the razor shores of the Bay of Bure, to the biting cold
winters of Frostfang Pass I have walked; across the land from the Ravenner Forest to the World's
End I have traveled; and yet I dare not propose to understand the horrors of Merodak.
For the dread that the province's population has suffered, there is no like in the entire world. The
harshness of the land is unsurpassed. Inflicted upon them is an unbearable pain, imposed on them by
their vile ruler, the demon prince, the most evil man to have walked the world, the Fallen Marquis
Lazarus.

Hearken to my tale of horror, my tale of dread. Hear ye of the Dark Province of Merodak!
<<end single page color text>>

Things didn't pan out as expected for the dark Marquis of Merodak. His ally, Malachdrim, betrayed
him. Their alliance had only been feigned. Lazarus had misjudged his adversary, and now he has to pay
for that mistake. Instead of turning the Church against the elfs, as his plan had originally been, he had
attracted the Church's attention to himself. Today, over fifteen years after the Iron Gate was opened,
Merodak is suffering severe blockades. The Church's vessels control the seas, and no Sovereigns are
interested in trading with Lazarus. What little gets through is used by the dark clergy. Slowly the dark
province is starving.

His visions had been for a grand, pan-human dominion stretching across the world with himself as its
undisputed political, as well as religious, head. Things really did not turn out the way Marquis Lazarus
had expected. At night the Dark Marquis longs to his homelands in the south. He longs for some
warmth. Instead he has been confined to his barren province in the north. Lazarus' base of power is
among the Dark Priests and the rest of his dark clergy. His military might is limited, but he hopes to
seduce the people of the land, using his Dark Priests as missionaries to spread the Darkness' word.
It is obvious to Lazarus that he doesn't have the manpower to threaten the Church on the battlefield.
There is only one problem with that: forces among his closest advisors consider him weak for not
attacking the Church. Hoping to fell two flies in one blow, Lazarus has unleashed his Fallen Templars
and his warrior monks on the already weakened province of Orschild. Not only will this still some of the
opposition, it might also be disruptive for whatever Cyrus is planning from the Iron Hold. For there is
one thing that is for sure – Lazarus does not consider himself Cyrus' minion. It was he, Marquis
Lazarus of Merodak, the Dark Inheritors wanted to be their man in the world, not Cyrus the Usurper
and his lapdog Malachdrim!

The Dark Province of Merodak
To the north of the world, on the borders of the great northern mountains lies the province of Merodak,
the ill-reputed seat of the Fallen Marquis Lazarus. Fifteen years ago darkness fell on the impoverished
province of Merodak. First its tyrant leader, the vicious Marquis Lazarus, one of the Church's five
supreme leaders, renounced his faith and pledged allegiance to the Darkness. Then darkness literally fell
on the land when the fallen elfen vassal Malachdrim opened the Iron Gate at the moment of total eclipse,
fixing the celestial bodies to their positions on the firmament. Since then twilight has ruled the land.
Merodak is a forbidding land of mist-shrouded forests, wind-swept moorlands, and bleak hills. It is a
dreadful place, ruled with an iron hand by its cruel master. The province is perpetually shrouded in
mist, its roads always muddy and soaked, and abandoned monasteries and churches glare emptily down
on travelers. The province's shores are craggy and treacherous. During the long winter Merodak is
entirely covered in snow. The thin soil of its fields yield fewer crops than anywhere else in the world,
blight and famine is not unheard of in the Dark Province. Formerly the pride of Merodak, the oncedense
forests have been cut down to raise an immense fleet for Marquis Lazarus, leaving the woodlands
barren and unfruitful

With the Great Conversion to the Darkness, depression has descended on Merodak, and its cities rot.
Its once prosperous ports have degenerated into festering dens where smugglers and pirates dwell. The
once-bustling harbors are littered with rotten, half-sunken hulks, their once lively streets lined by
crumbling houses and despair. While the prosperous few wallow in hedonistic self-indulgence, the
starving masses are doing what they can to survive.
No sane man would freely venture to this dismal place. Only the sullied pilgrims and other henchmen
of the Darkness seek this godforsaken country.

The people
"Turned from cheering crowds to parading paupers, the Darkness have fallen hard on the citizens."
- Kel Varnsen's travel diary

The history of Merodak is harsh, unrelenting, filled with pain and sorrow. After the eve of twilight
famine has ravaged the province. Shaped by their past, present, and the bleak landscape the people of
Merodak are unfriendly, wary of strangers, and uncaring towards outcasts and outsiders.

THE PEASANTRY
Merodak is renowned for its sullen country people. They reflect the bleakness of the land, the austerity
of the vegetation, and the harshness of the province's shores. Their eyes are deeply set, and being closemouthed
seems almost a virtue to them. "Merodak peasant" has grown a byword for sulleness and
stupidity, in-breeding is quite common among the Dark Province's rural population.

Extraordinarily wary of strangers, the Merodak peasantry is downright unfriendly and uncaring to
outsiders. Hospitality is an unheard of virtue, and at night the brutish inhabitants of the squalid villages
bar and lock their doors, not to open them for anyone until the morrow. Their suspicion hinges on the
belief that monsters haunt the nights, thus god-fearing people are not to be caught outdoors at that hour.
Life for Merodak's rural population has always been harsh, an eternal struggle against the forces of
nature. The thin soil has yielded few crops, and with the eclipse's twilit days the short summer is not
long enough to grow any substantial amount of crops. So the population starves, and their lives become
even more of a struggle.

THE CITY POPULATION
Marquis Lazarus' renunciation of his faith and his pledging of allegiance to the Darkness was fateful for
Merodak's cities. While the rural population has always been impoverished, Merodak's ports were
bustling with activity. Once the chief manufacturer of wool, the province is now under the Church's
tight blockade. Only smugglers are able to ship small shiploads to and fro Merodak's ports, turning the
busy harbors seething with activity into rotting cesspools of moored shipwrecks, and half-sunk hulls.
The city streets, once teeming with activity - peddlars gawking for people to buy their goods, bawds
offering a bed for the night and maybe even someone to warm it besides, young street urchins picking
the unwary's pockets - are now, in the twilight of daytime, almost deserted, taken over by stray dogs.
The cities' buildings have fallen into a sad state of disrepair, and those making money are pirates,
shipwreckers, and raiders.

At night a strict curfew, exercised by the brutal Iron Guard, is imposed on every city. None are
allowed to leave their houses between sunset and sunrise. The only sound on the city streets at night is
the cold winds blowing from the northern oceans and the iron-shod heals of the Iron Guard. Only the
patrolling Iron Guard and death walk the city streets at night. Zealous in their duty, the guardsmen
make sure nobody breaks the curfew. Those who venture into the streets at night do so at their own risk.
Everybody knows of the Iron Guard's brutality, and most caught breaking the curfew are imprisoned,
interrogated, tortured, and most probably killed by the harsh treatment of Lazarus' trusted men.

THE NOBILITY
Long before the barbarian warriors swept across the northern mountains, and eons before the Church
was founded, noblemen ruled the area today known as Merodak. They were great leaders, having a
plethora of tribes under their command. Their power was founded on might and religion, their castles
raised atop centers believed to possess strange powers in the religion of old giving them the strength to
rule the people.

Today, what little is left of the nobility in Merodak, a province ruled as a theocracy for ages, has
sunk into a mire of insanity and congenial idiocy. They are decadent, and half-heartedly they pursue
their feudal ambitions, well-knowing that their days of glory are millennia past, that their lands now
belong to the Church, or rather to Lazarus.

From their moldering castles towering over the land, the nobility evil-heartedly and oppressively
exercise what little power they have left. Their corruption is notorious. Many are little better than
bandits, desperate men raiding on the province's innocent and impoverished population. Years of
inactivity and a disposition for madness in almost all blue blooded lines of genealogy has turned most of
the nobility into will-less idiots, ineffectual cowards with no interests but their noble pursuit, a never
ending game of courtship, intrigues, and mutually unfulfilled threats.

THE DARK CLERGY
In positions where the nobility is found in other provinces, the dark priests perform their duties in
Merodak. This new class of powerful officials, the dark priests are both preachers and rulers. Their role
is to spread the Darkness' gospel among the province's population, and to make sure that Marquis
Lazarus' every whim is followed. Theirs is the duty is to preach Lazarus' word, and to exercise it.
Theirs is the power to act judge, jury, and executioner, and to make certain that everyone stays true to
their omnipotent leader, the Fallen Marquis.

Contrary to the other provinces, Merodak has no governors nor any bailiffs. The fiefs, or bishoprics
as they are called in Merodak, are under Lazarus' direct control, lead by bishops. The bishoprics are run
on a daily basis by the dark priests. In addition to being in charge of day-to-day business of running the
fief, the bishops and their dark priests are also responsible for teaching the people in the ways of the
Darkness.

SLAVERY
As the only province in the world, Merodak has a large class of slaves. Slavery was unheard of until the
Great Conversion, upon which those who were not killed for refusing to obey the Darkness' will were
enslaved. It is almost impossible to travel through the province without coming across a long line of
slaves walking as they are led across the land to their next task. With the recent incursions into Orschild
new slaves have been added, and much of the reconstruction of Merodak's fortresses are being
performed by slave labor.

Communications
Merodak is a wild and weather-torn province. With the Darkness, economic depression set in. After
Marquis Lazarus' conversion communications have grown even poorer than they were. Still, there are
certain means of communicating across the province.

THE ROADS
Merodak has only one main road, and that is the road leading from the coastal town on Palfrey to
Neremeth. Palfrey was once a prosperous port, but after the eve of twilight the Church has held the
province under a ceaseless blockade. During the province’s golden days, the road was used to ship
goods from the port to the capitol Neremeth. Lately, as Palfrey has become a den of smugglers and
pirates, the road is in little use. Only the odd caravan with contraband, wares from one of the city's
smugglers, makes its way towards Neremth. Apart from that, it is being used by the military to ship
equipment and warriors to the southern border.

Even though there are no major roads between the province's cities, there are paths connecting them.
These may at some time have been roads, but they are currently in such a sad state of ill-repair that
none dare call them roads.

Prior to Marquis Lazarus conversion communications between the cities were upheld by coaches
running between them. The past fifteen years have been a period of constant economic depression for
the province, and all coaching houses are bankrupt. Only the odd coach runs between Neremth and
Narlan, and these coaches only run on the Marquises command. Through the night-black coaches'
curtained windows red eyed, pale envoys of the Darkness peer.

ACROSS THE SEAS
Merodak's coastline is infamous. The winter storms rage across its shores, and travelling the seas is a
dangerous proposition during that time. In the summer the White Sea is still a challenge. It has acquired
its name from the white running on its waves through all four seasons, and the province's northernmost
port is Awon - none dare travel any further by ship.
All along the coastline lies small fishing villages. These fishermen know the seas, and dare them even
in the midst of winter. Someone wanting to travel along Merodak's coastline has better ask one of these
for a favor.

THE MESSENGER RAVENS
Travelling across the land is time-consuming and costly. Every castle and every keep in Merodak has its
own ravencote. A message tied to one of their feet, the black birds are used to deliver messages across
the province. The ravens have long been a means of communication in Merodak, and training them is a
very prestigious occupation. Because of the raven's importance, it is strictly forbidden to hunt them, and
anyone found guilty of such a crime is immediately beheaded.

THE CAIRNS
Situated at high hilltops and mountain spires, a series of cairns were raised throughout Merodak to warn
of an invasion from the north. The keeping and guarding of these cairns was important to the province's
defense. As soon as a cairn guard spotted another lit cairn, he was to torch his own. That way word of
an invasion would spread throughout the province quickly.
These days the cairns are still in use, but the keeping and guarding of them is not regarded as
important as it used to. The threat from the north is non-existent, and a surprise attack both from the
east and the south is fairly unlikely. The province's shores are inhospitable and an unlikely way for
invasion. Many of the province's cairn is in disrepair, but all are still in use, so in case of an invasion
word would spread fairly quickly.

The Church of Darkness
From atop the immensely tall belfry of his Dark Cathedral, Marquis Lazarus beholds his land: the
Darkness' major stronghold in the World of Gemini, the province of Merodak. With an iron hand he
rules his provinces as its undisputed despot. His word is law. Through his loyal dark priests, fallen
templars, and profane monks he enforces his rule. In every respect of the word, Merodak today is a
theocracy run and governed by Marquis Lazarus and his loyal clergy - together they make up the
Church of Darkness.

The machinations of power
"My word, the law. My rule, its execution. Your lives in my hands."
- Marquis Lazarus
As Marquis Lazarus broke free of the Church, as he declared Merodak the Darkness' stronghold in the
world of Gemini, as the province's churches, chapels, and monasteries were torched and burnt to the
ground, a new church was founded upon the remnants of its predecessor.

A NEW PROVINCE IS BORN
While totally free of what he himself calls the "enslaving shackles of the Church", Marquis Lazarus has
not been able to tear free of his old allegiance's hierarchy. The Church of Darkness, for that is what the
Fallen Marquis' state machinery truly is, originates from the One's Church. Having done away with the
Marquises, Lazarus' organization still has bishops and priests, priors and friars, grand masters and
knight templars. However, all of them are loyal to his cause, to the cause of the Darkness.

The organization Lazarus has formed in Merodak is a perverted, twisted version of the One's
Church. The organization is aimed at only one thing: the ultimate struggle between the Church's faithful
and the Darkness' henchmen. Where the One's missionaries are blunt and direct, the dark priests are
subtle and subversive. Where the One's priests are true and pure of heart, the dark priests are scheming
and speak with a cloven tongue. And where the One's knight templars are willing to shed blood in the
One's name, the Darkness' fallen templars are willing to shed blood for the sake of shedding blood.

THE ORGANIZATION
There is no true hierarchy to Lazarus' church any more. The originally strict hierarchy of the One's
Church has collapsed as individuals have struggled for personal power. The only fixed point in the
Church of Darkness is Lazarus' himself, and his role as undisputed leader. To most people, the Fallen
Marquis will seem erratic, completely unpredictable, and malicious. While possessing all of those traits,
it is by far his true nature. It would be to underestimate the truly great mind of Lazarus to believe him
mad and suffering under his own whims.

There is a reason why Lazarus has not let the hierarchy collapse. He is a master of adapting to the
circumstances, and he recognizes a conspiracy when he sees one. In fact, the Fallen Marquis trusts no
one. Not after his failure to ally with Malachdrim. He knows the nature of Darkness is egotism and
conspiracy, and he has chosen to adapt to it instead of succumbing to it. To control his church, he has
situated himself in the midst of an intricate web where he plays his advisors up against each other,
demoting and promoting them at what seems to be a whim. So there is in fact sense behind the feigned
madness, a structure behind the chaos, a mastermind playing his own game of power like a genious.

LAZARUS' RULE
By keeping his people constantly at their toes as to what their future holds for them, Lazarus inscribes a
great deal of uncertainty and unpredictability among his servants. His true motive for this is to create a
smoke curtain; an impenetrable screen of noise so no one can see when he makes his true strategic and
tactical maneuvers. Behind the scenes Lazarus is always observing his servants, constantly spying on
them. He relies on his intelligence corps, the Pale Whispers, to keep him informed of everyone's moves
and conspiracies.

So when a conspiracy is uncovered, when a plot for his downfall is revealed, Lazarus can "shift" the
traitors from their positions without anyone being able to tell the reason. They will not know whether
the move was due to Lazarus revealing the conspiracy or not. This way Lazarus not only reinforces his
position by removing those who are no longer loyal to him, but he is also able to cover up all signs of
dissent among his men.

Lazarus uses the exact term "shift". Au contraire to being rather peaceful sounding, it usually means
killing the traitor. The Fallen Marquis knows no remorse, and those who betray him meet an extremely
unpleasant, and for some a rather untimely, death. Despite his apparent madness, Lazarus is in complete
control of his subordinates and his servants.

THE LEGACY
However much Marquis Lazarus and his henchmen are the anti-thesis of the One's Church, their
organization still bears resemblance of that which Lazarus once pledged allegiance: the Church. In the
past decade, he has not been able to rebuild and restructure the age-old institutions. His men have
turned from their past ways, pledged allegiance to that which they once swore to defeat, yet they go
about their business as they did prior to the eve of twilight, the day when the Iron Gate was opened.
The legacy from the Church is apparent. Although a complete shift in power at the top, the hierarchy
remains the same with priests, monks, bishops, and knight templars. All in all, Lazarus' church is a
twisted mirror image of the Church. The institutions have survived. The knight templars have fallen to
the lure of Darkness, the good friars have turned profane, and the priests are now dark. The only two
institutions to perish during Merodak's fall was the mission and the inquisition, even though both of
them continue a life in the service of the Darkness among the dark priests and fallen templars, and some
new blood has been added: the magicians.

The institutions remain the same – almost the same. The Nomen has been exchanged with the Book
of Darkness, the One's tenets have been replaced with the Darkness' gospel, and the supposed strict life
of the cloth traded with an open life of sloth and indecency. Some things never change...
The politics of Merodak
"Marquis Lazarus must die!"
- Bishop Kaplin

Even though Lazarus rules his province with an iron hand, and even though he is the undisputed leader,
such is the Darkness nature that it nurtures egotism and personal ambitions in its followers. Even
though Lazarus is aware of this, and even though he does his best to prevent it, Merodak and the
Darkness clergy teems with schemes and intrigues. As good as all of these intrigues are harmless to
Lazarus. They are connected to individual's strive for power within the Church of Darkness' power
structure.

However, among Lazarus' men, there are some very ambitious individuals and some with a very
strong opinion about how the province is to be ruled and how best to further the Darkness' ends in the
world. These people find the Fallen Marquis to be of hindrance to their ambitions and their goals.
Together they have woven an intricate web of schemes within the walls of the Black Cathedral in
Neremeth.

To describe every individual's ambition and every insidious plot would be an immense task. Instead,
we have elected to distance ourselves somewhat from the actual schemes and intrigues of Lazarus' court
to gain an overview of the situation. Presented below is our view of the situation. We have tried to find
major factions of power, but none of this is set in stone. You, the Narrator, are free to delve further into
these intrigues. The material presented here is meant to give you some hooks onto which you can
elaborate and base your stories.

THE COUNTER-CURIA
Marquis Lazarus rules his province with an iron hand as its supreme, undisputed despot. He takes
advise from none, not even Cyrus himself. Lazarus surrounds himself with the remains of the Church's
high standing dignitaries, those who embraced the Darkness together with him. Many joined him hoping
to attain more power and influence. As they are discovering that Lazarus is not to provide them with
more power or influence, they are plotting against him. Particularly radical elements within this group
of high ranking dark priests are whispering about the downfall of Lazarus and the rise of a new
champion of the Darkness: The Counter-Curia.

THE FACTION OF THE SWORD
Just after the Fall of Merodak, the fallen templars were set to root out followers of the One, and to
battle those still loyal to the Church. At first the task was immense. The orders of fallen templars had
more than enough to do. But with time resistance became limited to pockets, and soon the pockets were
few and far between. Resistance ebbed away. Hungry for battle and thirsty for blood, the Fallen
Templars have formed the Faction of the Sword, working their own intrigues in an effort to force
Lazarus to march on the Church bringing war to the world.

THE NERETH FAMILY
Prior to the advent of the Church, in the aeons that passed before the Darkness swept across the land,
the Nereth family ruled greater parts of what later came to be known as Merodak. Of this family's rule
of old there is scarce any witness. Legends, however, still speak of the family's insurmountable evil and
harshness of their rule.

As the Church was founded and Merodak became the seat of a Marquis, the Nereth family had no
wish to relinquish what they had had for times immemorial. At the Church's mercy, the family was
allowed to keep their family castle, the Seven Spires. They also retained governorship of Crystal River,
the Spectre Hills, the city of Narlan, along with the rest of the bishopric Agash.

For the Nereth family, the coming of the Church meant they had to fight for what was truly theirs. Of
the hundreds of Marquises who have been seated in the Cathedral of Neremeth, well over two thirds
have been of the Nereth family or in the family's patronage. Through the ages, many of the province's
bishops, priors, and grand masters have belonged to the Nereths. Instead of battling the Church, a battle
that would have wiped the family out, they chose to bide their time and play along.

Now that the Church has been chased out of the province, the Nereth family is finally rid of its age
old yoke. It no longer has to fake fealty to the Church and the One. There is only one obstacle blocking
the way to its past glory: Marquis Lazarus. He is not a Nereth nor in the family's patronage. However
many of Lazarus' men are. The current Lord Nereth, Baelorn, is the Fallen Marqui's Chancellor, and he
is spinning an intricate web of lies and intrigues to topple Lazarus and claim the province for himself
and his family.

THE SONS OF MERODAK
Led by Ignation – formerly one of the Church's foremost bishops, fallen for the tempting Darkness, and
seemingly redeemed himself – Sons of Merodak are a loosely organized group resisting the oppression
of Lazarus.

Once Marquis Lazarus' foremost advisor, now leader of the Sons a small group of laymen resisting
the oppression of Marquis Lazarus, Ignation's loyalties are unclear. Has the Darkness still a hold of his
heart, or has he seen the Darkness' nature and been turned away from the ways of Marquis Lazarus? Or
is his change in loyalties merely because he himself tried to become the Darkness' supreme leader in the
world and failed? Does he only see his way to power through the fall of Marquis Lazarus, a road that
only goes through the Sons?

From the bishopric of Awon the Son's mount their raids. Awon is situated on the southern shore of
the Bay of Howls. Its capital city, also called Awon, is the world's northernmost port. Like all other
cities in the Dark Province, Awon has fallen on hard times. The Church's blockade of Merodak lets few
ships through to the city, and even fewer ships are allowed to depart. The bishopric is Merodak’s only
real lowland. Greater parts of the bishopric is covered by the Misty Marshes, a large swamp area
stretching from the coast a far distance inland. The marshland is always covered with a thin haze -
hence its name. It is unfruitful, yet it is rich on wildlife and especially birds. Like the rest of the
province, cold winds sweep across Awon. It is not rare for the swamps to be covered in a thin film of
shining, black ice, its mist a filled with razor shards of ice.

Awon is today run by the zealous and brutal Bishop Mlako. Bishop Mlako's main duty is to track
down Ignatio's Rebels in the Misty Marshes. The people of Awon has felt Mlako's scourge, and many
have been killed in the Bishop's hunt for his rebelling predecessor.

The city of Awon is marked by the hunt for rebels. Rebel cells hide in the city, and Bishop Mlako's
spies and infiltrators are doing their best to uncover these cells. Thousand of Iron Guardsmen are
garrisoned in the city, at the Bishop's disposal in the hunt for Ignatio.

The Mailed Iron Fist
"Where a thousand men will fail, give me a company of the Iron Guard and we shall prevail."
- Captain Noznan of the Iron Guard
To execute his rule, Marquis Lazarus is dependent on his military forces, his mailed iron fist as he calls
it. Merodak is a province at war. To the west lies Orschild, the torn and sundered province. To the south
lies Galatien, ruled by its will-less sovereign. For now Lazarus is content with replenishing his strength,
waiting for the Armies of Darkness to march through the Iron Gate before he makes his move onto his
neighbors. However, forces within Merodak, important military advisors, think him weak for not
attacking his stumbling neighbors. In a way to keep his position Lazarus sees himself somewhat forced
into unleashing his most aggressive henchmen on Orschild.

Detailed below are the different military units available to Lazarus in his struggle to enslave the
world, and to bind it to the will of the Darkness.

MERODAK'S IRON GUARD
Having been the Marquis of Merodak's personal force for as long as anyone can remember, the Iron
Guard is today larger than it used to be. Originally a professional military force exclusively made up of
devoted young men whose loyalty to the Church and the One had been displayed on the battlefield the
Iron Guard acts today as judge, jury and executioner. They are undyingly loyal to Marquis Lazarus. His
commands are always followed to the letter. Their brutality is known throughout the province.

Before the eve of twilight, the Iron Guard's sole duty was to patrol the compounds of the Marquis'
cathedral. Later their duties have been extended to the entire province. The Iron Guard is everywhere.
There is always at least a small group of five or six men in every village, and always a company the
cities. Their prime duty is to make sure the province population remains loyal to their ruler, to the
Darkness, and follow every command issued from the Black Belfry of Neremeth.

Divided into companies of between 100 and 500 men the Iron Guard is vast, counting well over ten
thousand men. Some companies are better known than others, though. Names like the Scarred, the
Shadow Cloaks, and the Merciless One Hundred instill fear in even the staunchest defender of the
Church. Let alone a simple peasant on the Merodak moors. Each company is lead by a captain who is
directly responsible to the grand commander of the Iron Guard, Lord Cregor. The captain is also
responsible for outfitting his company, making sure he has enough men under his command, and making
sure they have quarters and food.

THE SCARRED
The Scarred are Marquis Lazarus most trusted warriors. A company of devoted fighters, they are his
personal lifeguard. Their name, the Scarred, is due to their hideously scarred visages, scars they carry
proudly as tokens of devotion.

As Lazarus proclaimed his allegiance to the Darkness, he commanded those loyal to him to burn and
desecrate all of the province's churches, chapels and monasteries. He told the Iron Guard: "Those who
defy death and fire to desecrate and crush the One's holy places, will earn a seat among my most trusted
warriors, to dine at my table and to sleep in my halls."

In burning infernos across the province young warriors defied the heat and the fire to desecrate the
One's symbols. Many were lost, many were badly burnt, and those who survived came to form Lazarus'
personal bodyguard. Even though they do not dine by Lazarus' table, nor sleep in his halls, they have
earned the position as the Fallen Marquis' most trusted warriors.

THE FALLEN TEMPLARS
Once a stronghold of the Church, today the Darkness has befallen the northern province. Its once so
proud orders of knight templars are either eradicated or they have succumbed to the lure of the
Darkness. Those orders not banished or disbanded are often called the fallen templars. They were once
the proudest warriors of mankind, many of the protecting mankind's northernmost borders of the threat
from the north. Now, they themselves are the treat from the north.

The fallen templars are loyal to Marquis Lazarus, or to be more precise: to Marquis Lazarus' cause.
They see themselves as the sword of the Darkness, as the lightning bolts of the Dark Inheritors, and
harbingers of the Black Death. Once valiant and defenders of the poor and the weak, the fallen templars
have succumbed to the Darkness. They are vile, bloodthirsty, and no know remorse. Mercy and pity has
no place in their vocabulary, and it is only through shedding blood, through inflicting suffering onto
others that they find a reason to live. Today, the fallen templars live and breathe for the spoils of war
and terror, proudly wearing bloodstains and spatter on their cloaks and armor as distinctions.

Among the fallen templars there is a prevalent sentiment that their Marquis is not doing nearly
enough to spread the rule of Darkness across the land. In the beginning the templars were used to
subdue those in Merodak who would not succumb to the Darkness. As the pockets of resistance grew
fewer and smaller, they started looking for battle elsewhere. And so their eyes fell on Orschild. Lazarus
knew he could not prevent the templars from marching over the Pendares and into the border regions of
Orschild, yet he did not wish for them to do so.

THE MERCENARY BANDS
To strengthen his military in case of an invasion, Marquis Lazarus has bound some of the world's vilest,
most vicious mercenaries to his services; the likes of the Dogs of Death, the Company of Pained Cries,
and Arahan's Prophets of Suffering just to name a few. The companies are lead by mercenary captains,
men whose names are whispered in terror among the province's population, names such as Hergard
Hook, Arahan the Scourge, and Morgan Red. Lazarus pays his mercenaries handsomely, but not solely
in gold and hard currency. He is able to give them something few sovereigns are willing to, he gives
them the right to terrorize and to subdue his people.

The Fallen Orders of Knight Templars
Once the glorious defenders of the Church's northernmost borders towards the Northern Mountain, the
templars remaining in Merodak are now twisted and perverted beyond recognition. In the past the
Knights Templars were the Church's most splendid military arm, renowned for their chivalry and good
deeds. Today, the Fallen Orders of Knight Templars are renowned for their cruelty and unquenchable
thirst for blood. Their might fortresses supposed to guard mankind from an assault from the north have
been turned into strongholds for the oncoming assault on mankind.

Before the Great Conversion the orders of Knight Templars in Merodak were subordinate to the
marquis of Merloch. Today their supreme ruler is Marquis Lazarus. In the past the grand master used
to be in complete control of his order. Today the fallen orders of Knight Templars are subject to
Lazarus' every whim. Darkness has fallen on Merodak, and the hearts of the templars of its land have
been touched.

The Fall
""
– ???
Merodak has historically been mankind's frontier against the elfen threat and the threat of Darkness.
The presence of knights templars have therefore been strong in these northern reaches of the world.
Before the Iron Gate was opened fifteen years ago large tracts of land were held by mankind's probably
most pious and devote defenders. Only those of strong faith and a serious devotion to the One, the
Church, and all mankind volunteered for service on the northern borders. Yet, there was never any
shortage of recruits to serve in the inhospitable land of the north.

With the Great Conversion fifteen years ago everything changed. For a while enclaves of templars
still loyal to the Church fought valiantly against the heretics warriors of Marquis Lazarus, but in the
end they had to bend for the enemy's overwhelming numbers. The loyal knight templars had failed in
their task to protect the world from the Darkness' onslaught, but rather than fleeing south in dishonor
the knight templars chose to fight to the last warrior and die valiantly in the effort. Whole orders were
slain to the last remaining member. Names like the Order of the Silver Pelt and Knights of the Rosy
Cross will forever be remembered as martyrs in the One's service, having all died trying fighting the
Darkness' minions.

The fall and eradication of Merodak's orders of knight templars was orchestrated from within.
Several templar grand masters were partners in Lazarus' Great Conversion. More grand masters
willingly devoted themselves and their knights to the Darkness upon Lazarus pledging his new
allegiance when the Iron Gate was opened. Together the fallen orders of knight templars orchestrated
the eradication of their former brethren, those who refused to convert to the Darkness.
The templars of Merodak
""
– ???
The fallen orders of templars are little more than a warmongering horde of barbaric, yet cruelly
efficient, warriors. Their thirst for blood creates problems for Lazarus. Their ferocity in battle helps
little as they are greatly outnumbered by the Church's military forces. Unwilling to admit to this simple
fact the fallen templars keep on pushing Lazarus for an all-out attack southwards, blatantly ignoring
that they will be slaughtered by the Church's and their Sovereign allies' outnumbering fighting men.

Lazarus understands that something has to be done, though. As the last enclave of resistance was
defeated some years ago, he acknowledges the fallen templars need to see action. If he lets his best
warriors rust, the Fallen Marquis will have nothing in the final battle against the Church. The time is
soon upon him, and in the mean time the marquis has yielded and let a number of templar contingents
march on Orschild to the west.

Organization
""
– ???
After the Great Conversion and the fall of Merodak's proud orders of knighthood, those orders
remaining have kept their age long structures and hierarchies. From the order's castle the grand master,
a venerable warrior, still commands his loyal men. The castle is the order's central convent. The convent
is the basic nucleus of all orders of knighthood. Convents may vary in size and architecture. In the
borderlands of Merodak they are housed in keeps or fortified strongholds. In and around cities they are
housed in mansions, but these convents are usually administrative centers rather than military bases and
in times of peace have no military function. The convent houses a group of members, usually lay
brethren. They vary in size, with the largest in frontier regions, and in most convents the outsiders who
live and work in there outnumber the knight templars. These are non-member laymen who perform
agricultural or household tasks. The head of a convent has the title of Commander. The Commander
may be appointed for life, which is usually quite short in these times of war, or on one-year terms.

The central convent, the order's castle, is organized somewhat differently to ordinary convents. Being
the order's stronghold it usually houses a lot more brethren than any other convent. It is also the head
convent of its dependency. A dependency is an area of a bishopric run by an order of knights templars.

The order has scattered convents across the dependency to levy their control on the people.
The commander is the head of each individual convent. He is responsible for discipline, the
observance of the rules in his convent and the administration of the convent. In most cases the
commander is the only administrative official of his convent, as the administrative organization within
convents are usually very simple. The commander does not enjoy complete freedom of actions, he must
obey his grand master, but he still has certain rights: he can admit recruits and leads his brethren on the
battlefield. The commander used to be a respected and honored member of his local community. His
duty was to levy taxes and make sure that law and order was being kept among the peasants of his area
of administration. Today the commanders across Merodak are feared men of ill fame. They levy the
taxes, all right, but with an iron hand and with no remorse. Where they once upheld the law, they have
now become judge, jury, and executioner in a never-ending witch-hunt for non-believers and followers
of the One. They fill their convent's cells and torture chambers with suspected delinquents, and stage
horrendous public hearings usually followed by executions.

Above the commanders is the grand master, head of the central convent, the order's castle, and
therefore head of the whole order. The grand master is the highest office that may be held within an
order of knighthood. The Order Council elects the grand master among the order's most venerable
warriors. His term is for life. After the Great Conversion the remaining Grand Masters have become
more dependent on the marquis, and no longer rule their dependencies as they wish. Answering to
Lazarus himself, they have also been given responsibilities for filling up the slave camps that have
grown up in the province.

The Order Council answers to the grand master, and consists of knights with honorable positions of
confidence like master of treasures (in charge of the book keeping), master of the armory (often called
marshal), and so on. Beneath the council are the knights. Somewhat beside the hierarchy of the fighting
men are the non-members, the lay-brethren like artisans, stable hands, and so forth.

The Order of Derak
"Either we attack, or we rust in peace!"
- Grand master Pycelle of the Derak Order
From their mighty fortress, the Steel Sisters, looking out on the Bay of Biting Winds the knightly Derak
Order has protected mankind from the northern threat. Day and night guarding Frostfang Pass, the
mighty pass leading into the Northern Mountains, the Derak Order has for eons been mankind's first line
of defense. Now they are part of the Darkness' first line of attack. With their fall to the Darkness, one of
the most strategically important passes of the world has fallen to the Darkness. Because of its location,
the Steel Sisters lies protected from the worst ravages of winter. It is therefore possible to cross the
mountains through the Frostfang winter as well as summer.

DERAK DOMINION
This far north there are no cities, only scattered villages can be found. In the southern parts of the
bishopric lies the dark and foreboding Ravenner Forest. It is over these lands and these people that Lord
Pycelle, grand master of the Derak Order, rules. His rule cannot be said to be lenient – on the contrary.
He is, however, not a merciless master: even though he rules his people with an iron hand, he also
knows how hard the times are and is willing to exercise common sense. Lord Pycelle knows that he
cannot expect too much from the harsh and rocky lands of his bishopric. He knows that because of the
severe winter storms, half the year it is impossible for the bishopric's fishermen to set out to sea. And he
is fully aware that the short, cold summers don't yield much grain. Despite this, Lord Pycelle taxes his
subjects severely. None live above the bare minimum of existence, and the weakest are expected to die
during the long, harsh winters of the north.

GRAND MASTER PYCELLE
Lord Pycelle is one of the Faction of the Sword's foremost leaders. He is an outspoken old man. His
word earns a great deal of respect at Lazarus' court, and he is not afraid to speak his mind. Maybe the
reason why the wizened man with the steel gray hair has not yet been «shifted from position» is his
remoteness from the court. Lazarus likes to know the sentiments among his henchmen, and Lord Pycelle
makes a perfect, non-dangerous proponent as such.

THE STEEL SISTERS
The Steel Sisters is an ancient, weather-torn fortress. It is in bad repair as the order's mission was
deemed less important by the Church. Two of the castle's nine towers have crumbled, the Widow's
Tower and Cloud Spire. The perimeter walls are intact, and with its location atop the Kraken Tooth, a
steep, tall peak, it is as good as untakable. Legends has it that the peak the Steel Sisters is built atop, is
in fact the tooth of a Kraken bound eons ago by the Darkness as its hordes swept from the north. On the
day when the Darkness once more rules the world, the Kraken will be woken to life anew.

(Comment: a small misprint seems to have sneaked the first print run of the rulebook. Cursed be the
corrupting Darkness! The astute reader may have noticed that the rulebook on page 182 says "the order
[of Derak] was given a fief in southern Merodak". As you can tell from the text above, this is wrong.
Even the map of Merodak on page 139 of the rulebook you shows the Order of Derak to the north.)

The Order of the Bleeding Eye
"Blood for blood, suffering for suffering."
- The Book of Darkness
The Order of the Bleeding Eye is traditionally the personal lifeguard of the marquis of Merodak. After
the Great Conversion they were replaced by the Scarred as Lazarus' personal guard. This demotion has
not been easy for the order, and they still bear grudges against the Scarred. Yet, their loyalty to Lazarus
is undying and they have forgiven him for this slight against their honor. From their order's castle in
Vucan, Skyspire, they patiently bide their time for Lazarus to realize his mistake.

THE DARK CRUSADE
The Darkness will sweep across the world!
When the brethren of the Bleeding Eye could no longer act as lifeguard for their master, they turned
their attention elsewhere. The order's grand master, Mlad Illich, soon realized the potential danger of
having too many knight templars doing nothing for too long a time. The brethren of the Bleeding Eye
were among the fiercest enforcers of Lazarus' will during the Great Conversion. Their brutality knew no
boundaries. But they were also the first to grow bored and restless with Lazarus inability to wage war
on the Church. That was why grand master Mlad launched the idea of a Dark Crusade to Lazarus.

Realizing both its political, religious, and military potential, Lazarus was quick to let Mlad execute his
plan. The same year the Bleeding Eye's grand master started mustering knight templars from the other
fallen orders and laymen from across Merodak to participate in his Dark Crusade.

The spring of 1291, after having marched up the crusading forces in and around the Bleeding Eye's
dependency in Vucan, Mlad led his force through the Ravenner Forest, across the Mannes Mountains
into the border regions of Orschild. One of the first strongholds to submit to the Dark Crusade was the
castle known as the Wathcman of Semul, home of Earl Josem (see Orschild – Winds of War page 9).

The Josem family found an unholy alliance in the Dark Crusaders, and grand master Mlad found an
almost impenetrable castle from which to mount his further forays into enemy territory. Since 1291 the
Wathcman and its surrounding territories have been the base of operations for the Dark Crusade, now
well into its fourth year.

Meredia (see Orschild – Winds of War page 21), the county of Orschild where the Wathcman lies,
has suffered severely under the Dark Crusade. For three years the city of Gernes has been under siege.
Going into its fourth winter of siege it threatens to fall. From there the road is paved straight to
Meredia's capitol city of the same name, and even Lord Gideon knows that if Meredia should fall
Orschild's capitol city of Resna would stand no chance against the Dark Crusade. Little does Gideon
know that the Darkness corruption has already spread and settled in both Meredia and Resna. Yet, all
hope is not lost.

The fall of the Watchman of Semul, known as the Holy Castle by the Church for it is the final resting
place of the ancient Marquis Semul, was seen as a terrible blow to the Church. The Holy Castle, even
though not having been under the Church's control for approximately 1000 years, is still considered a
holy place and a place of pilgrimage. Now that the Darkness' forces controls the Holy Castle a countercrusade
is being mounted in Ravarra on the borders of Orschild. But Marquis Herodias is unwilling to
launch it until he can get Lord Gideon's approval, for Herodias knows that if he has to fight a two-front
battle against both the Dark Crusaders and Lord Gideon's forces he will surely loose. The hope for
Herodias and his crusaders is that Gideon will take to his senses now that he sees Gernes falling.

Lazarus' Lances
"Hallowed be the relentless, for they shall inherit the world."
- Immanuel 2:19, Cyrus addressing his disciples
Merodak used to be a province of many orders of knight templars. As it was considered the final
outpost against the northern threat of elfs and the Darkness it had to be heavily fortified. In addition to
the two orders that converted along with Lazarus, by far the two largest orders, there were five others in
Merodak. Names like the Order of the Silver Pelt, Knights of the Rosy Cross, Brethren of the One, The
Fiery Hearts, and Hospitaliers of St. Andreas will forever be inscribed in the annals of the Church as
martyrs as they were wiped out during the Great Conversion. However, not all brethren from these
orders stuck by their pledge of allegiance to the One. Those who converted to join Lazarus' cause were
organized into a new order, Lazarus' Lances, the third and final fallen order of knight templars.

The Dark Clergy
The Dark Clergy is Marquis Lazarus' religious as well as political machinery. There are no lords and
bailiffs in Merodak. Members of the Church of Darkness hold all positions of administration. A
corrupted mirror image of the One's clergy, the Dark Clergy retained Church's hierarchy after the Great
Conversion. Yet, it has been twisted and perverted to the will of Fallen Marquis. While the original titles
and positions remain, they have been twisted beyond recognition. In his insanely complex game of
power Lazarus has made the titles as meaningless as they originally were meaningful. By promoting and
demoting clergymen at his will, the Fallen Marquis has created a hierarchy where titles no longer
correspond to positions or power.

While Merodak is divided in bishoprics, bishops do not govern all any more. Bishops have been
replaced by particularly devout followers of Lazarus, people far below the bishop in the hierarchy.
Among his closest advisors cardinals and lowly dark priests may be found. There is no rime nor reason
to his demotion and promotion, the only fixed rule is that Marquis Lazarus himself decides the fate of
each and every member of his Dark Clergy.

The Dark Priests
"Behind blasphemous rituals and the vilest acts, you find the dark priest..."
- Kel Varnsen's Merodak travel diary
The Dark Priest - harbinger of Marquis Lazarus.
Among the ruins of Merodak's burnt churches and monasteries the Dark Priest has received his
theological training and learnt how to wield the powerful magic. He is well-versed in the ways of the
Darkness, and he knows the Book of Darkness by heart. His entire life resolves around worshiping the
Darkness, and his conviction is unyielding. Himself, he is unrelenting in his mission to spread the
Darkness' gospel, and to prepare the way for the Armies of Darkness. With fervor a conviction he
spreads the gospel among his own followers, the laymen of the Darkness, the cultists.

The Profane Monks
"And in their plush halls the demon overlords feasted and broke bread."
– Prophecy of the coming of Darkness
For centuries Merodak was considered the safest keeping place for old and forbidden scriptures. The
province small, yet devout population and its many isolated abbeys and monasteries made for perfect
safe keeping for these scriptures. With the Great Conversion the scriptures were recovered from their
ancient hiding places. Monks fallen to the Darkness' lure start a frenetic work for recovering and
rediscovering the ancient secrets hidden in the scriptures.

The Profane Monks are nothing but the old monastery orders of Merodak converted to the Darkness'
cause. The orders, their organization, and daily life within Merodak's many monasteries is hardly
changed the past fifteen years. Realizing their importance, Lazarus has wisely let them lead their lives
uninterrupted by his otherwise reformatory hand. The only difference between past and present is the
books being studied. There used to be copies of Nomen on every desk, but today they overflow with
various and sundry scriptures on the Darkness and its many apparitions.

Minions of Marquis Lazarus in the game
It could be quite an interesting narrative having the players play minions of Marquis Lazarus. Instead of
fighting against the Darkness, they would be fighting for the Darkness. Or perhaps fighting for the
Church of Darkness against Cyrus and Malachdrim's men. Another possibility might be to have one
player be one of Lazarus' minions, a spy in a party of otherwise god-fearing player characters. The
possibilities are endless. For playing a minion of Lazarus, and as an aid for the Narrator to create extras
for his stories and narratives, this section details some new rules for playing minions of Marquis
Lazarus. The rules presented here are optional. If the Narrator does not want to use them in his game, it
is his privilege not to do so. However, if these rules are to be used, you are well advised to use them all
as they are tightly interwoven and to a great extent rely upon each other.

Creating a minion of Lazarus
When creating a minion of Marquis Lazarus use the rules for creating a hero as described in the
rulebook. There are, however, some things you will have to do different in order to tailor a character to
become one of Lazarus' men. First of all, your character's social class (step 3.6 of the character creation
process) will always be priesthood, and your race is always human (step 2 of the character generation
process). Remember that your character is one of the Darkness' henchmen, and as such he will never
have a positive Nature (step 3.8). Pick a level of nature between -1 and -20 (step 3.8).
Upon deciding Areas of Knowledge (step 4) you should read the new career descriptions below. In
order to be one of Lazarus' minions you have to be of one of the new careers. What you will have to do
is, in other words, switch step 4 and 5 of the character generation process described in the rulebook, so
that you first decide the career of your character and then pick Areas of Knowledge based on the career
description.

When rolling for background events, you will notice that all the new careers are of the career type
Tainted. The background of those who have sought to serve as Marquis Lazarus' minion is always
somewhat different from the rest of the world's population. The Tainted have their own table for
background events, printed below. The rules for rolling on this table remains the same as that described
in step 6.2 of the character generation in the rulebook. If your career is of more than one career type,
you should split the rolls as evenly as possible between your the different categories, using the
background event tables of the rulebook. The rest of the character generation process is handled as
described in the rulebook.

TABLE: BACKGROUND EVENTS FOR THE TAINTED
1D20 Result
1 Spy. Even though you are a minion of Lazarus, you are first and foremost a minion of the
Darkness' will. As such you have been recruited by Cyrus as his spy within the enemy camp.
2-3 Idealist. You have joined the Darkness and Marquis Lazarus because you believe it is the only
way to mankind's salvation. The Darkness is in your eyes the great redeemer, the ultimate
equalizer, the driving force to make man see reality as it truly is.
4-6 Revenge. The Church is responsible for your family's death, either directly responsible or
indirectly. It was upon your family's death that you realized that the Church was hypocritical
and has to be fought with every means available.
7-9 Derelict.
10-12 Sullied pilgrim's march. You came to Merodak along with other sullied pilgrims. Unlike most
you never returned to your homeland, but remained in Lazarus' service.
13-14 Refugee. The Church's representatives have been hunting you because of your faith. You might
not have been a follower of the Darkness to begin with, but were driven right into its clutches.
Today you are a devout follower of the Darkness and an obedient servant of Marquis Lazarus.
15-16 Traitor. You have attained a somewhat prominent position within the Church of Darkness. Just
how prominent is up to the Narrator to decide. However, this position has been reached through
double-dealing and back stabbing of potential adversaries, so in addition to having a prominent
position you also have deadly enemies who are out for your blood.
17-18 Spoils of war. You have participated in the dark crusade to spread the gospel of the Darkness.
19 Dark relic. You are the bearer of a dark relic. Its Nature is the negative value of 1D20/2. How
you came to be in possession of this relic is part of your background, and should be detailed by
you and the Narrator together.
20 Touched by the Darkness. You harbor a demon inside your heart. Reduce your character's
Nature to -26 (please refer to the rules for possession in chapter 2). The demon that resides
within your heart depends on your career. If you are some sort of warrior, it is most likely that
the demon is a Cerit. If you are a clergyman you will most probably be possessed by a Purgat,
while magicians will most likely be possessed by Jeselites. The final decision is up to the
Narrator, though.

New careers

DARK PRIESTS
A character may become a Dark Priest if he for his primary area of knowledge has one of the
corresponding secondary areas of knowledge as outlined by the table below.
Primary area of knowledge Secondary area of knowledge
Communication Learning
Learning Communications, or magic
Magic Learning
Career type: Tainted
Attribute requirement: MEN 14.
Areas of knowledge: Learning, Communication.
Special requirements: A Dark Priest must have Learning of at least 2 and be specialized in Dark
Theology (see below). He also has to have a Nature of -6 or less to be a Dark Priest.

PROFANE MONK
A character may become a Profane Monk if he for his primary area of knowledge has one of the
corresponding secondary areas of knowledge as outlined by the table below.
Primary area of knowledge Secondary area of knowledge
Craftsmanship Learning
Learning Craftsmanship, or magic
Magic Learning
Career type: Learned man/Tainted
Attribute requirements: MEN 12.
Areas of knowledge: Learning, Craftsmanship.
Special requirements: The Profane Monk must have a Nature of -6 or less.

HARBINGER
The harbingers are Lazarus' warrior monks. A character may become a Harbinger if he for his primary
area of knowledge has one of the corresponding secondary areas of knowledge as outlined by the table
below.
Primary area of knowledge Secondary area of knowledge
Close combat Learning
Learning Close combat, or missile weapon
Magic Close combat, or missile weapon
Missile weapon Learning
Career type: Warrior/Tainted
Attribute requirements: PHY 10, AGL 12, MEN 14.
Areas of knowledge: Close combat, Learning and Missile weapons.
Special requirements: A Harbinger must have the Dark Theology specialization, and a Nature of -6 or
less.

FALLEN TEMPLAR
A character may become a Fallen Templar if he for his primary area of knowledge has one of the
corresponding secondary areas of knowledge as outlined by the table below.
Primary area of knowledge Secondary area of knowledge
Close combat Learning
Learning Close combat
Magic Close combat
Career type: Warrior/Tainted (see Chapter ???. New rules)
Attribute requirements: STR 14, PHY 14, AGL 11, MEN 14.
Areas of knowledge: Close combat, and Learning.
Special requirements: A Faller Templar must have the Dark Theology (see Chapter ???. New rules)
specialization within the Learning area of knowledge. He also has to have a Nature of -6 or less.

New Specializations

DARK THEOLOGY (LEARNING)
Characters with this specialization are well-versed in the Darkness' scriptures. They know of the Book
of Darkness and its contents, and are also knowledgeable of the Darkness' rites and rituals. Having this
specialization also makes the character aware of the Dark Inheritors' existence and of Cyrus' return as
the Dark Martyr.
This specialization is only available to someone who has had or still has access to the dark
scriptures, or someone who has or still do attend a place where the gospel of Cyrus is taught, like the
Black Cathedral of Neremeth or the Key in Orschild.
Attribute: MEN.
Difficulty level (DL): The DL depends on the obscurity of the knowledge which you want the
character to know/remember. Trying to remember common knowledge does not require an attribute roll.
DL -1, fairly obscure, -15, extremely obscure.
Effect: The higher the effect, the more information you find out about the subject in question.

KNOWLEDGE OF MAGIC (LEARNING)
With the training to use magic comes the ability to know magic in all its shapes and apparitions.
However, one does not have to know how to cast a spell to know of the nature of magic and its
apparitions. A character with this specialization has knowledge of magic even though he does not know
how to wield those forces. On a successful attribute roll he is able to recognize magic when it is being
used.
Attribute: MEN.
Difficulty level (DL): The level of the spell.
Effect: The higher the effect, the more precisely can you say what kind of magic has been used. If the
effect is 0 to 5 you can only tell there was magic involved. With an effect between 6 and 10 you can tell
what aspect the magic effect stems from. An effect that lies between 11 and 15 not only tells you the
aspect of magic, but also the name of the spell. If the effect lies between 16 and 24 you can not only tell
what aspect the spell stems from, but the actual name of the spell and its precise effect. With an effect
of 25 or more, not only do you know the same as for the results below, but you can even tell which well
known spell books the spell is known to be recorded.

Baelorn Nereth

Baelorn Nereth is Marquis Lazarus' chancellor. Where Lazarus might seem the erratic lunatic,
Baelorn is calculated evil epitomized. Coming from the age-old Nereth family, his political aim is to
restore it to its former glory, to regain the power deprived his family when the Church enslaved the
province of Merodak. With precise political strikes he works towards this goal step by step. To him
Marquis Lazarus is just a pawn in a greater game for possession of Merodak. From the province of
Agash Chancellor Baelorn plans a coup d'etat.

Agash is Merodak's southernmost province with a long coastline to the Bay of Bures, called the
Stony Shores. This coastal stretch and is renowned for being extremely treacherous. Skerries and rocks
covered by water at high tide have spelled death for many a ship. The Horn of the Beast is renowned
throughout the world for the innumerable shipwrecks, ships thrown onto the treacherous rock during the
severe winter storms that rage across the Bay of Bure.

From his stately castle, the Seven Sisters, the Chancellor Baelorn rules the bishopric. At the base of
the Seven Sisters spreads the city of Palfrey, a once prosperous trading post, now a garrison of warriors
preparing for the Dark Crusade. Today the city is filled with Fallen Templars, warriors of the Iron
Guard, scum, thieves, and elfs of Malachdrim's kind come north to trade. The city was once prosperous,
now it is a den of smugglers, thieves, robbers, and other unwanted elements. Some has called Palfrey
the city of pirates, for the Nereth family harbors many a pirate captain and his crew for a handsome, yet
bearable tax.

Lord Baelorn Nereth is planning a coup d'etat from his Ivory Throne. He is biding his time, for the
moment when Lazarus is weak. As Merodak's chancellor, he has immense power, power that he is
willing to make use of to achieve his goals. Through the years he has made sure that all of the
bishopric's bailiffs are true to him, for Agash is the only bishopric still with bailiffs, and that no dark
priest can sway their allegiance. Among his other allied are the magicians in the Specter Hills. Their
master is an old friend prodigy of the Nereth family, true and loyal to their cause. The magician's
convent has been protected by the family long before the Great Conversion fifteen years ago.

The ultimate price
Having seen the power of the Darkness, he has pledged his allegiance to Cyrus. He believes that is the
only way to restore his family's glory. By pledging his soul to the Darkness he pays the ultimate price,
no price too big when it comes to revive his family honor. Acting as an agent of the Dark Martyr within
the Lazarus' court, Baelorn is aiming to overthrow the usurper marquis. When the Armies of Darkness
sweep across the world he will overthrow Lazarus and under the Dark Martyr's auspice he will reinstate
the Nereth family to its former glory.

The carvings
Baelorn has to pay his allegiance with the Darkness in blood. As part of his pact with Cyrus Baelorn
has to daily carve a verse from the Book of Darkness into his bare flesh. Only by drawing his blood that
way can he retain his vital link with the Dark Martyr.

Bishop Ignatio
Ignatio is an enigmatic person that defies being understood. In his youth he was a reformatory priest, a
loyal follower of the One's will. A pious man, his preaching made him too dangerous for the Church to
have him close to their headquarters. So they sent him to one of the world's northernmost sees on the
northern shores of Merodak. There he preached for many years, in the end earning position as bishop of
the southern bishopric of Agash. He then disappears from history until after the Iron Gate is opened.
He then reappears on the scene of history as one of the Fallen Marquis' closest advisors. By then
Ignatio is a prolific magician, author of the greatest spellbook known to man. But something happens.
Maybe Ignatio is the victim from one of Marquis Lazarus' unpredictable whims, maybe he has a fallout
with his dark leader, or may he simply takes to his sense. What is for sure is that Bishop Ignatio breaks
with his former master and disappears off the stage of history anew.

Recently his name has been mentioned in connection with the Sons of Merodak, the Merodak rebels
resisting Marquis Lazarus' oppression. It is said that Ignatio is their leader, but has he really renounced
his allegiance to the Darkness? Or is he simply using the Sons as a power base in his struggle for the
position as head of the Church of Darkness?

Bishop Ignatio's book of spells
Much has been said about Ignatio's book of spells and many copies exist, but one thing is for sure: there
exist only one true copy of the book. Some say that the copy is still in Ignatio's possession. Other claim
that Marquis Lazarus stole the true copy, and that this was the reason for their fallout. Whatever the
truth is, most devout practitioners of the dark art of magic are looking for the true copy as it is said to
contain spells more powerful than found anywhere else.

Bishop Ignatio's profane miter
When he left Marquis Lazarus' court Ignatio took his miter with him. Legend has it Ignatio once visited
Cyrus, and the Dark Martyr imbued his bishop's miter with dark power. It is a dark relic as described in
the rulebook page 184. Its Nature is -42, and in addition to the powers of being a dark relic, it also
makes the wearer ignore the Rule of the weakest link as described in the rulebook page 74.



CHAPTER 5: TIMELINE
OF EVENTS IN THE
DARKNESS' HISTORY



<<intro>>
Year Event
220 b.R. Malachdrim is born. At the moment of total eclipse, Malachdrim is born as the fourth
and final elfen vassal.

15 b.R Arrival of the Darkness. Through the rift in the Northern Mountains the Darkness'
demonic hordes pour into this world. Supported by the barbarian tribes from beyond
the Northern Mountains, the Darkness' hordes wash across the land.

6 b.R. Peak of the Darkness' dominion. Upon reaching what is today known as northern
Bervoche, numerous sovereigns and princes capitulate and turn to the Darkness. After
almost ten years, the Darkness' dominion in the human lands is at its peak.

Year 2 The tide turns. Mankind, previously scattered under conflicting allegiances to warring
sovereigns, are united under the One's banner. United they turn the tide of war,
forcing the Darkness' hordes to retreat.

Year 8 Isolation. Marquis Hymeneus raises the Iron Gate, shutting the Darkness' armies off
from t he Realms of Darkness beyond the rift in the Northern Mountains. From now
on it is only a question of time before the human forces have broken and annihilated
any resistance, as the Darkness' hordes can receive no more reinforcements.

Year 10 Merodak claimed for the Church. Merodak is claimed the seat for the Marquis of
Neremth. The province's old rulers, the Nereth family, is granted a small fief in the
south of the province, Agash.

Year 11 The end. A definite end is set for the Darkness' first assault on the human lands. At
the battle of Ravarra the final forces of Darkness are obliterated, and the war that has
raged for over 25 years is now over. But the Darkness is only beaten, not defeated.

Year 12 The Steel Sisters is raised. The founders of the Derak Order starts building their
fortress the Steel Sisters. It takes almost 50 years to raise the fortress, and
innumerable laborers and artisans plummets to their death at the feet of Kraken Tooth
before the order's fortress stands complete with its nine towers, a church, and a
monastery in year 71.

Year 13-109 Time of the demon lord. For almost a century Malachdrim and an entourage of his
most trusted men roam the human lands in a quest for remaining caches of the
Darkness' scriptures.

Year 163 Fire in the library. As marquis Nuelius breaks camp in front of the gates to the elfen
realms, a small group of the Church delegates make their way to Malachdrim's hidden
library of forbidden scriptures, which they set on fire. The fire unfortunately spreads
to the elfen breeding chambers, igniting the First Elf war.

Year 163-196 The First Elf war. Malachdrim has lost his precious library. Angered by his loss and
finally having an outlet for his scorn for the human race, Malachdrim and his kind
spearheads the elfen assault on the human lands.

Year 163-181 The siege of the Steel Sisters. Soon after the human delegation to Queen Ketura's
elfen court had torched the breeding chambers, the elfen hordes pour through the
Frostfang Pass. The Steel Sisters is besieged by Salem's hordes, a siege that lasts until
his forces are re-deployed to the siege of Merloch.

Year 163-175 The Nereth rebellion. As Salem's hordes pour through the Frostfang Pass, the Nereth
family sees an opportunity to seize power in Merodak. Their rebellion is a bloody one,
but in 175 the family is beaten and only through admissions gets to retain its fief.

Year 196 The Ultimate Humiliation. On the brink of complete victory, Queen Ketura calls of
Malachdrim's final assault on the broken human defenders of Ravarra. Ignoring his
Queen's will Malachdrim brings the elfen kinds to the verge of civil war, but
Malachdrim backs down in the last minute.

Year 196-1140 The elfen Golden Age. Realizing his kindred vassals' evil intentions Malachdrim
withdraws from Queen Ketura's court, keeping himself to his own kind's realms,
secluding both his kind and himself from the rest of the elfs.

Year 256 Cyrus is born.

Year 277 Cyrus starts preaching.

Year 280 Cyrus killed. In an attempt to open the Iron Gate and let the Darkness' demonic hordes
into the human lands anew, Cyrus is killed and thrown through the Gate before it is
sealed up once more.

Year 780 Battle of the Iron Gate. Celak Sau is killed as he tries to open the Iron Gates.

Year 902 Malachdrim spawns for the last time. After years of courting for Ketura, Malachdrim
is finally allowed to spawn with her. It has been almost a century since last time.
Little does Malachdrim know that this is the last time he will spawn.

Year 1140 Malachdrim is exiled. Speaking up against Queen Ketura taking marquis Geniah as
lover, Malachdrim is the second elfen vassal to be exiled from the elfen realms. Fo
decades Malachdrim and his kind will relentlessly roam the human lands.

Year 1144 The Second Elf war. Queen Ketura publicly announces that the elfs will support
marquis Geniah in his struggle against the godless human sovereigns. For the second
time the elfen armies march from the mountainous homes, descending like a scourge
on the human lands.

Year 1195 The ultimate treason. What has been long waiting finally happens, as Malachdrim
turn on his former allies and fight on the rebellious sovereigns' side in the battle at
Catament.

Year 1195 A new home. Lord Cavallius of Galatien donates Malachdrim and his kind a fief in
the northern part of his province, the fief of Lothren. Malachdrim in turn swear
allegiance to Lord Cavallius.

Year 1208 Contact. After almost a millennium of hard work, Cyrus has attained the position of
Dark Inheritor. He reaches out across the void and makes contact with Malachdrim
who, at this point, is becoming increasingly desperate as his kind has been seriously
decimated from wars and old age. Malachdrim agrees to the offer as Cyrus' left hand
man, and sets out in search of material that can lead him to the exact day and hour of
the next eclipse.

Year 1271 Coronation of Lazarus. The young bishop Lazarus is appointed Marquis of Merodak.

Year 1275 The broken alliance. Marquis Lazarus contacts Malachdrim. Sensing deceit
Malachdrim is unwilling at first to work with the marquis. Upon realizing that
Lazarus can supply him with the day and hour of the next eclipse, Malachdrim forges
the alliance of false pretenses.

Year 1280 Opening of the Iron Gate. Malachdrim and his Wild Hunt reach the Iron Gate, defeat
its defenders, and opens it once more letting the Darkness into the world.

Year 1281 Fall of the Steel Sisters. As Lazarus proclaims freedom from the Church, the Derak
Order under its grand master Lord Pycelle, proclaims its allegiance to the Fallen
Marquis and the Darkness. Mankind's first defensive position against the Darkness,
the Frostfang Pass, has fallen to the Darkness.

Year 1289 Ignatio's rebellion. Bishop Ignatio, once one of Lazarus' most trusted men, rejects his
faith in the Darkness. Withdrawing into the Misty Marches he joins the Merodak
rebels, the Son's of Merodak, to battle Marquis Lazarus from there.

Year 1292 The Dark Crusade. Lead by grand master Mlad Illich of the Order of the Bleeding
Eye the Dark Crusaders marches through the Ravenner Forest and across the Manes
Mountains into the eastern county of Orschild where they settle around the Watchman
of Semula.

Year 1292- The siege of Gernes. The Dark Crusaders lay siege to the city of Gernes. By the
winter of 1295 the city is still besieged.

Year 1295 Today! Marquis Herodias is readying a counter-crusade on the Dark Crusaders.
Reports of Dantero and the twins heading towards Lothren.



PART II
A WORLD IN DARKNESS



CHAPTER 6: THE
DARKNESS AMONG US
<<one page color text>>
Spread across the world, heretic cults pledging allegiance to the Darkness, the Dark Inheritors, and to
Marquis Lazarus. They worship the Darkness and all its apparitions; they plot the Marquises' and the
Church's downfall; they preach a new world order where mankind is freed from his shackles, free to see
the world as it truly is.
Heretic covens
Like cancer, slowly spreading from within, the Darkness' gospel is steadily spreading among the world's
population. The teachings of Cyrus can be found everywhere: from the poorest peasants on the
impoverished and weather-torn coastline of Mordinan, to the immensely wealthy merchants of fair
Aretas. Even in the midst of the One's most faithful and devoted servants, the clergy, corruption and
heresy is to be found. With its promise of freedom and of personal gain, Cyrus' teachings have a broad
appeal among both the world's oppressed masses and its fortunate few.
The coven
""
– ???
As worship of the Darkness is strictly forbidden, and anyone found guilty of paying such a homage
being burnt on the stake for heresy, those following the Darkness' gospel does so in secret. Heretics, for
that is what the Church has labeled them, gather in groups to worship their savior. They gather in
remote places where they will not be detected, where their unholy rituals cannot be witnessed and their
blasphemous incantations cannot be heard. They gather in deep cellars and the city sewers where they
cannot be found, where their irreverent doings cannot be traced, and where no one dares set a foot. For
nowhere will they reveal their allegiance in public.

These gatherings are called covens – groups of people meeting to worship the Darkness and all its
apparitions. The exact size of a coven, its precise rituals, and its members varies a great deal throughout
the world. There is no such thing as a standard organization for a coven.

Except for one fact: the coven always has a leader, the Heresiarch, who is an enlightened servant of
the Darkness. Also: coven members are not themselves laymen, and they are called cultists. They
worship the Darkness at night, but at day they are regular citizens. Most of them are, at least.
The Heresiarch
""
– ???
At the heart of any coven is the Heresiarch, the coven leader. The Heresiarch is most often a Dark
Priest, but magicians fallen to the Lure (see below) are also known to preach the Dark Gospel. On very
rare occasions a possessed will gather a coven around him. The Heresiarch leads his cultists into
devotion,

The Cultist
"The first will be the last, and the last will be the first."
– Immanuel 8:18
Still, there are certain signs to go by. The heretic who wants to get in touch with other heretics will
always carry a sign only recognizable by someone well-versed in the Darkness' gospel.
While worship in the true sense of the word includes rituals and gatherings, most follows the
Darkness secretly for themselves, not having dared contacted anyone

Devotion
""
– ???
Magicians
Magic is the art of wielding the forces of Darkness. Some call it the Winds of Magic, other the
Darkness' Breath. Casting spells and wielding magic is a matter of toiling the Darkness, shaping it to
your own will. It has nothing to do with heresy or devotion to the Dark Inheritors. Magicians are
enlightened, free of the century old prejudice against the arcane arts. Unbound by the shackles of the
Church, they proudly brush dust of old tomes of forbidden knowledge. The magician does not spread
the Dark Gospel, nor is he an agent of the Darkness. On the contrary, as he reigns the Darkness and
bends it to his own will.

The Enlightenment
""
– ???
The Darkness is not simply a dark horde of demonic creatures that will sweep across the human lands.
It is a force that permeates our very existence. It surrounds us and is present all the time. In its raw
shape, the dark force is dangerous and destructive. Comparing it to a hurricane is an apt comparison,
for it is of no reason that many magicians calls it the Winds of Magic. The hurricane is also dangerous
and destructive, but would you call it evil? Like the hurricane, the Darkness is destructive in its very
nature. For there is no such thing as evil is what evil does. Evil is a question of the intents of he who
channels and wields forces of Darkness. Attaining this realization is called the Enlightenment.
Magic is not a question of reciting mumbo jumbo. It is an art, a science, the craft of tapping into the
Darkness destructive powers and channel them to your will.

Magicians and the World
""
– ???
Unfortunately, most people are not as open-minded. The Church's old prejudices have a firm grip on
them, and they cannot discern at crank heretic from a wielder of the arcane arts. It is therefore
impossible to use the magic in public without raising a stir. It is therefore not uncommon for magicians
to seclude themselves from the world around, to seek some peace and calm. But this need for privacy is
twinned with the need to wield the magic. Casting spells for one's own amusement only goes that far. In
the end the magic is there to be wielded, and to be put to use.
Because of this it is not uncommon for magicians to convene at remote locations where they can go
about with their studies. The magician's congregations are meant as havens where the powers of magic
can be studied, and where apprentices can be taught to cast spells.

The Lure
"Heretic? Who? Me?"
– Magician faces the Inquisition.
Wielding the mighty magic is like playing with fire. You never know when you will get burnt. To tap
into the inexhaustible forces of Darkness, the magician needs to develop an affinity for magic. He must
resonate with it. In game terms this is expressed in the rule that a magician must have a Nature of -10 or
less to cast spells (see the rulebook page 29). Reigning the power of magic and channeling it into
powerful spells always brings the risk of loosing oneself to the Darkness. This is reflected in rules for
changing nature (see the rulebook page 93). Every magician knows he is balancing on the edge of
disaster. Magic is a double-sided bladed, and it may very well cut both ways. No matter the ends, if the
magician is not careful he will loose himself to the ever-constant temptations of the Darkness, the Lure.
Whenever dabbling with magic, the Lure is always present. It is one of the first things you learn. For
the magician keeping out of the Darkness' clutches is all-important. You have not broken free of the
Church's shackles and achieved enlightenment only to be enslaved again. It is considered a virtue to be
independent of both Church and the Darkness, but a sad fact is magicians in increasing numbers let
themselves succumb to the Lure. For those who are still free, the fallen magicians are regarded as
nothing but vulgar slaves to the Darkness, weak-spirited beings unable to resist the ultimate temptation.
Yet, the paradox of it all is that anybody wanting to wield the mightiest magic, to channel the most
powerful spells, and ascertain their power on nature and that around them will succumb to the
Darkness. To achieve such mastery of the arcane arts you have to resonate even more intimately with
the dark forces, and for every step towards mastery the Lure grows stronger and stronger. Blinded by
the power granted by the magic, you walk straight into the Darkness' open arms. Without knowing it
yourself you have fallen prey to the Lure and find yourself nothing but a servant of the Dark Inheritors.

The Resonating
""
– ???
A spellbook is powerless in the hands of one who does not have the affinity for magic. Yet wielding
magic is a skill that may be acquired. As such there is a way to obtain this affinity, and learn how to
resonate with the magic. Most spell casters do not attend to a congregation of magicians where they
obtain their knowledge through a process of apprenticeship and tutelage. In fact, a great portion of the
world's magic wielding population is self-taught. The knowledge they possess has been acquired from
old tomes – spellbooks, parts of the Gospel of Darkness, or other arcane and forbidden scriptures.

At first these books may seem like a jumble of words, phrases, and unfinished ideas, but through
intense studies of the tome a deeper understanding of the subject matter is attained. Reading and rereading
the tome, the pieces start falling into place. The student attains a greater affinity for magic, and
soon he starts resonating with the forces of Darkness. His eyes will open to the real world, and he will
break free of from the mental prison forced unto him by the Church. In all and everything the students
starts seeing the colored strands of magic. He starts hearing the Winds of Magic rustling the leaves of
our very existence, but he can also feel the Darkness' Breath and it chills him to the core.

In game terms, what is happening with the student is that his Nature is steadily dropping as he attains
a greater affinity for magic. A person's affinity for magic is represented by his Nature. Upon attaining a
Nature of -10 he has finally reached maturity and can now start casting spells if he knows how to do it.
I.e. he has the Knowledge Area of Magic. The lower a person's Nature, the better his affinity for magic
is and the more he resonates with it. Acquiring an affinity for magic is a question of study. You have to
study tomes dealing with the Darkness, of its nature, how it permeates our very existence, and how to
tap into its exuberant resources and channel them to your own wishes. Such tomes – whether it is the
lost Gospel of Jesel or an unknown magician's spellbook – they are always dark relics with their own
negative Nature. Note: not every dark relic can help you acquire the affinity, only tomes can. Without
getting into any technical details, it is up to the Narrator to decide if a given dark relic can provide you
with this knowledge.

Studying and understanding a tome is a question of time and how well you receive the knowledge.
Only through understanding the contents of a tome, may you obtain the knowledge hidden within its
pages. When a character is studying a tome, he must make an Affinity roll for each complete month (as
in four weeks) spent studying. It is impossible to combine magical studies with any other activity apart
from the simple tasks of everyday living like eating, sleeping, and procuring food. You cannot work
during the day and study at night. Your studies require all of your attention.

The Affinity roll is made to see if you have understood what the tome speaks of. The Affinity roll is
made against your character's The higher your Nature, the less receptive you are of the tome's
knowledge. Yet, the lower the tome's Nature the more explicit the text and the easier it is to understand
its contents. Find the average value of your character's Nature and that of the tome. The lower the better
for if the average value is negative, make it positive by exchanging the minus with a plus sign. If the
average value is positive, tough luck; exchange the plus sign with a minus sign. The value you have now
is the Difficulty Level of your Affinity roll.

Example: Jehosaphat has been studying a copy of the Gospel of Sepher. The copy Jehosaphat has
come by is rather poor copy, and is a dark relic with a Nature of only -12. Being a monk fallen to the
Darkness' temptations, Jehosaphat has a Nature of 5 himself. His MEN is 16. He is a clever little boy.
For a month now he has stolen away from the monastery's daily doings after morning mass. All day
and most of the night too, he has spent pouring over the forbidden text. At first he was intrigued by its
contents, its seemingly random notes and ravings. But realization is beginning to dawn on
Jehosaphat. Or is it? Only the Affinity roll can tell for sure.

To find the average value of Jehosaphat's Nature and that of the tome we first add these two
values. The tome's Nature is -12. Adding Jeohasphat's Nature of 5 (-12 + 5 = -7) we get -7. To find
the average value of the two Nature values we simply divide their sum by 2 (-7 / 2 = -3.5) giving us a
-3.5. This value is rounded up, yielding a -3. Since this is a negative value, we must exchange the
minus sign with a plus sign, giving us a value of +3. This is the Difficulty Level of the Affinity roll. As
Jehosaphat's MEN is 16, he has to roll 19 or less to succeed with the roll. His studies have paid off
and his Nature drops by 1.

The tome's Nature is an indication of how much insight into the Darkness' nature it gives. Because of
this limitation, a person's Nature can never drop below that of the tome he is studying.
Example: After a somewhat over a year of intense studies, and after having been driven from the
monastery, Jehosaphat is becoming a talented magician. His Nature has dropped to -12. He has pried
every inch of knowledge within his copy of the Gospel of Sepher. It has no more to offer him. No
matter how much more Jehosaphat is studying the tome he will not be given the chance to make a new
Affinity roll.

Final Notes on Magic
""
– ???
The above presentation of magic is seen from the magicians' point of view. Even though most serious
magicians would protest to this, it is a fact that their meddling with magic makes them servants of the
Darkness. Without knowing it they strengthen the Darkness' foothold in the world every time they cast a
spell. For every spell they cast, the stronger the Darkness' presence in this world grows. Every spell
leaves residue tendons of the dark force, and the more residue the stronger the Darkness' hold on us
grows. Through these tendons the Darkness can yield its influence on us. As such, whether they like it
or not, the magicians unwillingly become servants of the Darkness.

It is also important to point out the difference between a magician and a magic wielding follower of
the Darkness. Lazarus' Dark Priests, for instance, can also cast spells. Yet, they are not magicians. That
which sets a magician apart from a magic using heretic, and the reason why magicians despise heretics
and those of their own kind who have fallen prey to the Lure, is that the magician refuses to follow
neither the Church nor the Darkness. He sees his strength in being Enlightened, and free from the
shackles of devotion. The magician is his own master, while those who follow the Darkness have
surrendered their freedom.



CHAPTER 7: LEGIONS OF
DARKNESS



<<one page color text>>
Descending from an age predating even the Sovereigns' rule in the world are the hideous cults of
nocturnal worshippers whose strange rituals was passed on to them from the barbaric hordes that swept
across the Northern Mountains thirteen hundred years ago. This secret religion, stealthily handed down
from generation to generation of worshippers despite the outward reign of Sovereigns and the Church is
marked with wild witches' sabbaths in lonely woods and atop distant hills. Akin to it in essence, and
connected to it in the fact that they both worship the same infernal powers, is the frightful secret system
of cults and covens adhering to an inverted theology, producing such infamous legends as the Black
Mass. But the Darkness infiltration of human society is more insidious than this. Although prevalent
among the Darkness' agents in the world, agents are not isolated to cults and covens of worshippers.
This chapter contains seven examples of the Darkness in the world. Each of the examples includes
adventure hooks for the Narrator to use in his own games.

The Urchins of Assentium
Deep within one of the world's cities lies the impoverished district of Assentium. Within it an abandoned
church. The church has been abandoned for as long as anyone can remember. Within it harbors the
Darkness.

The Fall of Assentium
""
– ???
Four generations ago plague wiped out most of Assentium's population. Those who were not killed, fled
the district for the rest of the city was untouched The church was abandoned along with the rest of the
district. Assentium used to be a lively market place. The church, now in disrepair and partially
collapsed, was the focal point for the pious people of the district. Then one day a stranger came to town.

He settled in Assentium. In his entourage he had five beautiful women, their skin the whitest ivory, their
hair the most raven black. But in the Stranger's entourage was also sin and lewdness. Together with his
women the Stranger set up a bordello. First in the hidden, then – as district's male population started
skipping church to seek the carnal pleasures in the Stranger's bordello – it turned from a public secret to
a public display. Within short the Stranger had turned the once pious district into a cesspool of sin.

Within a few years of the Stranger's arrival Assentium was a byword for lewdness and carnal pleasures.

And so it came to be that the One saw fit to punish the adulterers. He first sent His missionaries to
preach among Assentium's fallen. When that did not work He sent His fiery prophets to speak of the ill
fate befalling those not following His ways. When none paid heed he unleashed the plague upon the
district, killing indiscriminately. With no heed for sinners our pious the plague wiped out most of the
district's population –man, woman, dwarf, and elfs. So it came to be called the Fall of Assentium.

Only beggars have taken dwelling among the ill-fated district's ruins since the Fall of Assentium four
generations ago. None of pious heart can even bear walking among the ruins, these silent witnesses of
mankind's fall from grace. For among the ruins the seeds of Darkness still dwell. Its temptations are
many and strong. Only those of the strongest, indomitable spirit can walk among the crumbled walls
without falling prey to the Darkness. Some say that even today the undying sins of ages past materialize
in five beautiful women – five whores with ivory skin and raven hair – haunting the ruins, leading the
unwary and of weak spirit astray.

It is deep within the heart of this district that the Urchins of Assentium dwell, among the remains of
the old ruined church.

The Sight
""
– ???
The Urchins of Assentium is a rag-tag collection of street boys dwelling within Assentium's ruined
church. They are not simply guttersnipes. They harbor a deep, dark secret. Assentium has been touched
by the Darkness. The Stranger was an envoy of the Darkness, and the plague was not the One's work. It
was the Darkness' work. Assentium is in many ways a hidden stronghold of the Darkness deep within
one of mankind's cities. And the urchins are at the heart of the corruption. Unwillingly and unknowingly
they are at the heart of the infection.

Whoever refuses to help an Urchin begging will not wake the next morning. Instead he will be found
beheaded. Head cleanly separated from their body. It is said that the Urchins mark their ill doers with
the Sight, their own evil eye. Once marked there is no escape. Even the best guarded cannot protect
himself from the terror that walks the night. Those who have seen this terror speak of a scythe-wielding
murderer, of an unnaturally tall and thin creature that steals itself into even the best-guarded fortress.

The Scarecrow
""
– ???
Within the church an old scarecrow resides, an artifact of the Urchins' adoration and the focal point of
their little community. In return for the Urchins doing its bidding, the old scarecrow cares for them by
inflicting disease and sickness upon those who refuse to help them. The first boy to lead the Urchins,
Xavier (more of him later), stumbled upon the church ruins while scavenging for food. Within the ruins
of Assentium's church he stumbled upon an old scarecrow that spoke to him in his dreams. It promised
him that he would never go hungry or cold again if Xavier only did what the scarecrow asked of him. It
was true, and Xavier never went hungry or cold again.

He attracted several street boys, for only boys were allowed in his outfit, who started hanging with
him because he never went hungry or cold. And so the Urchins of Assentium came to be. Xavier taught
them the Sight, and within a short time the city's population had learnt better than to refuse the Urchins
any aid. Little did the Urchins know that they were meddling with the Darkness. All they could care
about was to cover their own immediate needs.

The mist of history hides how the scarecrow ended up in the ruined church of Assentium. The fact is
it today stands in the middle of the desecrated church, amidst pieces of the shattered altar. The
scarecrow is old. Time has dried it up completely, its straw stuffing nothing more than dust in the wind.
Its dress old and tattered, and underneath the skeletal remains of a humanoid being. No one knows who
this person is, or whether it is a person or a monster. Xavier once claimed it to contain the remnants of
his father, but he usually says the Stranger brought the scarecrow to Assentium. Whatever the truth
might be, one thing is for sure: there is still something sentient and alive within the physical shape of the
scarecrow.

That which is sentient within the scarecrow is a demon. It is this demon – the Redeemer – that seeks
out and slays those marked by the Sight. The Redeemer is a Purgat. Its objective is to bring about the
fall of the city that Assentium is but a part of. Once the city has been brought down, it is his to
command as a spearhead in the Darkness assault on mankind. The Redeemer is both cautious and
scheming, and rarely makes use of his true form other when seeking out those marked by the Sight. His
true form is that of an unnaturally tall and thin person, and his favorite weapon is the scythe.

THE REDEEMER
STY 22
PHY 18
AGL 17
PER 18
MEN 25
CHA 16
Areas of knowledge
Knowledge 4 – single specialization Dark Theology
Close combat 5 – double specialization Scythe
Magic 5 – single specialization Incendium and Motus, double specialization Animus
Communication 4 – single specialization Persuade
Awareness – single specialization Listen and Search
Powers
Twist Nature, Grow, Suggestion

Damien
""
– ???
Damien is the Urchins' undisputed leader. He has been part of the Urchin outfit for as long as he can
remember, assuming leadership as Xavier left the group. Damien is a frail boy of 16. Grime is smeared
all over his body, scantly covered in torn and tattered rags. Beneath the grime his skin an unhealthy,
pale pallor. His black hair is short, yet not trimmed, but short through wear and tear and the result of
countless fights. All in all, Damien looks like any other urchin. There is only one big difference, though:
Damien's eyes. They are steel gray, cold as a winter night. His gaze can penetrate the thickest templar
armor. He started hanging out with them because they always seemed to be getting money and food. His
story is not very different from that of the other Urchins.

Few know where Damien comes from. Himself he says he is the one and only child the Stranger had
with his five women. He always talks of the five whores as his mother, in singular term, and he has been
known to roam Assentium alongside them, conversing with them in a foreign tongue. His father, he
says, is the scarecrow.

Damien claims he can speak with the scarecrow. None of the Urchins have ever heard it speak. Yet
Damien spends countless hours in front of the scarecrow talking to it in a strange, evil tongue. At times
the scarecrow seems move slightly, but whether this is because of the wind or something else no one
knows. Damien has lately been claiming that he receives bids from the scarecrow. He says it is time for
the Urchins to start paying back for that which they have been granted through the years. At first the
bids were harmless. The Urchins had to take messages to certain persons within the city. Then the
scarecrow started asking more scary things of the Urchins. Like the heart of a newly deceased child, the
eyeball of a living person having gazed into the eye of terror, to mention two.
All of the Urchins, Damien excluded, wants out. They feel they are at the receiving end of an unfair
bargain. But they know what will happen to them if they refuse. One of their numbers refused. he was
found floating in the sewers the next morning. Face down, head cleanly severed from the rest of his
body as if cut of by a scythe.

Damien has been spending increasingly more time with the scarecrow, talking loudly to it,
gesticulating, and discussing with it. He has almost totally withdrawn from the streets, spending most of
his time brooding, commanding the Urchins, or talking with the scarecrow. Whenever talking with the
other Urchins he speaks of the time nearing, of an impeding apocalypse, and that the Urchins will play
an important role in it. He speaks of a war for Eternity and how all of the city will soon be theirs to rule
– whoever 'theirs' is. Of course, when Damien speaks with the scarecrow, he is reality communicating
with the demon that harbors inside its tattered remnants – the Redeemer. Damien has been let into the
demon's objective, and is now discussing their next move (see the adventure hooks below).

<<map of the ruined church and its vicinity>>

Adventure hooks
Assentium can be situated to any large city in the world at your will. It is highly unlikely that it will be
found in Ravarra or other major cities devoted to the Church, but apart from that you should be able to
justify its existence in almost any other large city.

XAVIER
Xavier was the first Urchin of Assentium. Today he is the city chancellor! How could that have come to
be?

Xavier does not know who his parents are. He has never seen them. Yet, people believe him to be the
youngest son of the House of Beldrada, a minor noble family of Ravarra. For years Xavier was an
urchin. It was no accident that he found the scarecrow. The Redeemer had taken notice of Xavier, and
found him a most likely stooge for his evil ploy. It was apparent that Xavier had abilities far
superceding those of his fellow street brats. And besides he could very well pass as the youngest son of
the House of Beldrada. Their looks were practically the same.

On a dark and rainy winter night the Redeemer killed the youngest son of Beldrada alongside his
entourage as they were leaving the city. Xavier took the noble son's place. From there the Redeemer has
cleared the path for Xavier, killing everyone standing in Xavier's way towards the very top of the
political ladder: the position of Chancellor.

Although gifted, Xavier never truly understood why the demon helped him. He now understands it is
payback time. The Redeemer wants Xavier to help him fulfill is objective. Xavier is to prepare the way
for the coming of the Darkness and lure the city officials into a trap and kill them all. Only then the
demon claim the city for itself.

It is possible to spin an adventure or even an entire narrative around the Redeemers attempt to
overthrow the city government. Maybe one of Xavier's political enemies observes Damien entering the
town hall heading for the Chancellor's chamber, bringing word from the scarecrow. Now the enemy
wants to know why a beggar boy is frequenting the Chancellor's chambers. Maybe he is suspecting
strange sexual behavior on Xavier's part, or that Damien is Xavier's bastard son. He therefore hires the
player characters to dig up some dirt that would overthrow Xavier.

A possible twist to adventure may be Xavier himself hiring the player characters. He has cold feet
and wants no part in the overthrow of the city government. He is quite content with his wealth, and
wants to withdraw to an estate to lead the good life. In an attempt to overthrow himself he hires the
player characters to dig up dirt about him.

TOO HIGH A PRICE
As the Redeemer is about to overthrow the city government with Xavier's help he's asking the Urchins
for increasingly more difficult and dangerous favors. With the blood of the city officials Damien will
conjure a demonic horde that will sweep across the city. For the invocation ritual he requires strange
and exotic materials, materials like the fresh eye balls of a virgin not yet having flowered into
womanhood, the right ear of a Ravarran merchant, and the strands of hair from a dead person who
never lied. The Urchins believe the scarecrow is asking too much of them, and wants to sever their ties
with it. The price is simply too high.

The demon no longer has any use for the Urchins. If they do not do as he bids them, they are of no
use to him. In an attempt to force them into obedience he starts killing them off one by one. In the
beginning young urchins are found dead floating in the city sewers. Heads cleanly severed from their
bodies. Nothing conspicuous about that, but when twenty odd street boys are found within the space of
a week the city officials realize that something is wrong. They hire the player characters to see if there is
a connection between the deaths. But the connection is darker than anyone had ever suspected.

WITCH-HUNT
A wealthy merchant hires the player characters to track down the Urchins. His son was found beheaded
in his bed one morning after having refused to donate money to a begging Urchin. Having heard tales of
the Urchins and their Sight, the merchant wants to track them down to learn their secret. If he can make
use of the Sight himself, he believes that he might be able to kill off all opposition to become the
wealthiest and most successful merchant in the world. He does of course not tell this to the player
characters, to which he presents himself as a mourning father who wants to know who killed his son.

The Silversmiths' Guild
Since time immemorial the purest and most shapeable silver in the world has been mined from the
mountains outside Arbel, a city in northern Galatien. The city has lived and thrived on the mountains'
silver. All of the silver is sold to the city's silversmiths who manufacture the best silverware in the entire
world. For generations the silversmiths have perfected their own, very special breed of silvercraft. The
objects they forge are renowned for their beauty and durability. It is said that silver of Arbel is hard as
the hardest steel from Bervoche's smithies, as fine as the finest dwarfen artefact, and as durable as the
best elven armor. How the silver is wrought and how it is being treated in the city's smithies is the wellkept
secret of Arbel's Silversmiths' Guild.

The Guild
""
– ???
Generations of silversmiths have worked to perfect the way they forge silver. To ensure that the
knowledge of the silversmiths' was not lost, and because the knowledge was a trade secret, the city's
silversmiths went together and formed the Guild many hundred years ago. The Silversmiths' Guild,
simply called the Guild in Arbel, is an organization steeped in traditions, rituals, and unspoken laws of
conducting business. Most importantly: it is about passing the knowledge of silver forging to the next
generation of master smiths, and to protect the silver trade from outsiders. If the knowledge should ever
fall in the wrong hands, Arbel might loose its role as center of silversmiths in the world.

The Guild has a formal hierarchy that it adheres to quite strictly. At the bottom are the Apprentices.
Apprenticeship starts at an early age, always under the tutelage of a Master Smith. The Apprentice is
usually the eldest son of the Master Smith. The craft is usually passed on from father to son. As an
Apprentice most of the daily work consists of performing menial, yet important, tasks around the
smithy. Like fetching firewood and water, making sure those who work in the smithy have the tools they
need, and repairing worn or broken tools. Apprenticeship is all about learning the life of a silversmith.
When coming of age, the young Apprentice will be initiated in the Guild proper. Until then he has
had nothing to do with the Guild. When the Master under which tutelage the Apprentice has been
working, finds the Apprentice fit, he will recommend his Apprentice before the Guild to be accepted as
a Journeyman. It is upon becoming a Journeyman that the young man learns the craft itself. He will
from now on work as a silversmith, usually in the same smithy where he spent his apprenticeship. This
is expected of him as common courtesy towards the Master. As a Journeyman the silversmith will not
be initiated in the secrets of the craft, only how to apply it. The secrets, like preparing the raw silver for
instance, are kept among the Masters. There more Journeymen than there are masters. Often four or
even five Journeymen work in a smithy, with one Master Smith leading the work. Most silversmiths
never become Masters. Only those of particular talents – not strictly within silversmithery, but also
socially – will be recommended as Master Smith.

As a Master the silversmith is initiated in the secrets of the Guild, and he is granted a seat on the
Guild Assembly. As a Master the smith is given the right to be the proprietor of his own smithy, and to
assume the tutelage of Apprentices and hire Journeymen. He still has to abide by the rules of the Guild
Assembly, who more or less dictates how business is run in Arbel.
The Inner Circle
""
– ???
The Guild Assembly is made up of all Master Smiths in Arbel. It is a congregation of 42 members. It
always has been and will always be 42 members. The Assembly is the nominal head of the Guild, and
responsible for Arbel's silver trade. It decides how much each smithy is allowed to produce, which
Masters are to buy the best silver from the mines, and who the different Masters will sell their products
to.
Most members of the Assembly believe themselves members of an organization whose aim is to
regulate the silver trade in Arbel, and to act as an congregation where disputes between Master Smiths
can be handled in a fair way. Little do they know that among their number is a small group of six who
call themselves the Inner Circle. While the 36 other members of the Assembly believe they are part of a
benign organization, the Inner Circle has more sinister goals.

The Inner Circle is focused around a certain Juan Fabricera who comes from a respectable family of
silversmiths going far back in time. The Inner Circle's existence is unknown to the Assembly's other 36
members. Their goal is to monopolize the silver trade for themselves, making immense amounts of
money. Fabricera says he knows a way to do this, and the other five members have agreed to total
secrecy. They do not suspect that dark forces are involved…

Juan Fabricera's Conspiracy
""
– ???
Juan Fabricera has made a fairly simple deal with Malachdrim. The more silver he can provide
Malachdrim with, the better. In return Juan is being promised the position as head of Arbel once
Malachdrim's forces are strong enough to expand into the city. At the moment they are not.

Juan Fabricera is the spoilt oldest son of the well-known Fabricera family of Arbel. It is a respected
family of silversmiths, running back to the earliest days of silversmithing in the city. But upon becoming
a master smith, Juan realized he wanted more from life. For a few years he traveled the world. It was
there that he came into contact with a dark coven. Through the coven he met a band of Malachdrim elfs
constantly looking for more silver to forge their special weapons from. Juan quickly realized that Arbel
would stand no chance once Malachdrim set his eyes on the city. It was only a matter of time before
Malachdrim did set his eyes on Arbel. Instead of hiding among the cowards, Juan decided to howl with
the wolves.

Upon returning to Arbel he set up the Inner Council. Through heritage one of the Guild Assembly's
most prominent members, he started talking to other powerful members in secrecy. Without scruples he
disposed of those not friendly to his cause, to make seats available for his accomplices. Today the six of
them are in control of all the Assembly's important positions, including that of Poll Officer. Juan has
made certain that this position is his. All votes within the Assembly are made in secrecy. It is the Poll
Officer that counts them. Once they have been counted, they are discarded and the Poll Officer relays
the result to the Assembly. The position relies upon the Poll Officer's utmost honesty, something Juan is
not in possession of. All of the Assembly's votes are in favor of Juan's ultimate goal. This way he and
the Inner Council are able to redirect trade to Malachdrim's henchmen.

Adventure hook
Before Juan's return to the city, Franco Diaz used to be one of the leading merchants in Arbel silver.
One by one his fellow merchants were told that their license to ship Arbel silver had been revoked by the
Guild Assembly. Baffled, Franco regarded this strangeness, thinking his own trading license to be
beyond danger. Then, only a few months ago, he was told that his license had been revoked, too. Not the
one to take no for an answer, Franco hires the player characters to figure out what is happening. He
wants them to find out who are being granted shipping licenses for Arbel silver.
To find answers the player characters will most likely end up at the docks. Once there they will learn
of the trading ships' strange crewmen. In the end they may learn the truth of the sailors, that they are
enslaved servants of Malachdrim (see chapter 3) and elfen drones sent to pick up the silver. This in turn,
may lead the PCs on to finding out why the Guild is selling silver to the elfs.

Two Estates
Lady Isildora is a desperate woman. She is leader of the Twilit Dawn, one of three covens dedicated to
the Darkness in and around the city Gerynia. Lady Isildora recently had the opportunity of a lifetime
slip through her fingers. One of her rivals, Knight Roberto Amala, member of the Shadow Cloak,
another coven, was in possession of a dark relic. The dark relic was rumored to have been crafted by a
reputed demon magician from the years of the Dark Invasion. This dark relic was also an integral part
of a ritual that, coupled with the sacrifice of certain bodily parts, could endow the focus of the ritual
with the power of a mighty magician. With such power she could herself become the heresiarch of the
Twilight Dawn, draw the other two covens under her wing, and drive the Amala family out of town.

Several of the Lady's men stole the dark relic from the good Knight (well, he is not all the good,
but…), but were waylaid on their return journey. The Lady Isildora, born to the family of Trieste,
suspects her other rival and brother of perpetrating the deed. Her brother, Bailiff Leonardo Trieste is
member of the Black Adder, the third coven dedicated to the Darkness. Then again, Amala, that sly fox,
may have sniffed out the plot and taken precautions to intercept any would-be thieves and dispose of
them.

What is a she to do?
The Two Estates
""
– ???
In the northwestern regions of Avernus lie the two estates of Amala and Trieste. Outside the town of
Gerynia they lie on the shores of the Strait of Delusions, two estates and each other's common enemy. It
has been this way for ages. The origins of the feud stretches back to the days when the du Lancre family
assumed power of the province. Both minor noble families, neither of them was likely to be appointed
the lordship of Gerynia. Instead both vied for the position as chancellor and closest advisor to the Lord
Gerynia. Neither family was appointed.

That was when the feud began.
Ever since they have been holding each other responsible for this failure, and have been able to keep
the feud running for almost a millennium. Only at rare occasions have either family been in the position
of chancellor. It is now well over ten generations since the last time either family has had a chancellor.
As the days of old Lord Gerynia is drawing to a close opportunities are opening for the two families.
After a period seeming peaceful co-existence the feud is heating up again.

The Silent War
""
– ???
For as long as anyone can remember the two families of Amala and Trieste have been at each other
throats. Both families are prominent members of the Lord of Gerynia's court, the court having been
somewhat the battlefield unto which they have played out their fiercest battles. Not a single drop of
blood has been spilt. Of course, they are not barbarians either. Over the years the original struggle has
become somewhat stylized on the verge of staged play. One family makes a move, then the other
answers with a counter-move. Back and forth the struggle flows. Their battles have been silent ones,
some call their feud the Silent War, court intrigues and slander have been their weapons, unfulfilled
threats the order of the day.
Until recently that is.

The Black Adder
""
– ???
The times are a changing and new alliances have been forged. Twelve years ago a wanderer walked into
the Trieste estate. He brought promise of a weapon that could silence the feud with Amala once and for
all. The wanderer was Drogo Vladimo, Dark Priest and prominent member of the Church of Darkness.
So it came to be that the Trieste family allied with the Darkness as part of a move against the Amala's.
They formed the coven called the Black Adder.

For a moment it seemed like the Trieste family had the ultimate weapon to drive Amala out of town.
But in what should have been their moment of victory the family head, Bailiff Leonardo Trieste,
wavered. He lost his nerve. What would they do if Trieste was driven out of town? What would become
of the family if they lost their common enemy? Leonardo waited for too long. His impetus was lost. And
so it came to be that the Amala family could restore status quo.

The Shadow Cloaks
""
– ???
The Amala's soon learnt of the newly forged alliance, for the walls of the Trieste estate have ears.
Knight Paolo Amala moved swiftly. His family was no stranger to the Darkness' ways, and among his
mad grandfathers' papers he found that which he was looking for. For decades a coven had been plotting
to drive Prince du Lancre's men out of Gerynia, but it was loosing track of its original goal due to
infighting and bitter struggle for leadership. With a swift move the good Knight Amala had turned the
coven, calling themselves the Shadow Cloaks, into a tool of his bidding. Balance had been restored.

The Twilit Dawn
""
– ???
Eight years ago the young noblewoman Isabella Trieste was married to the Sir Georgios Isildora,
assuming the title of Lady Isildora. A fair maiden with a deceptive appearance, she was. Since early
childhood she had been taught of the Amala family's deceit, and her heart and mind had been honed to
life with the Secret War. An ambitious woman, she despised her older brother for having wavered when
he had the means to eradicate the Amala's once and for all. With her to the Isildora estates young
Isabella brought her mentor Drogo Vladimo. Together they formed a new coven, the Twilit Dawn, to
end the Silent War and drive both families out of town. A few years ago Drogo died of old age, and
Isabella assumed position as head of the Twilit Dawn.

Adventure hook
Short of disposable cult members, Lady Isildora has to find some other dupes to unknowingly carry out
her carefully laid schemes to retrieve the dark relic. Transients would be the ideal foil, especially those
who fancy themselves as adventurers. All she had to do was conceive a story that would appeal to those
individuals’ vanities to motivate them to find and recover the dark relic. Failing that, they will need to be
convinced to stop the possessor of the ring by any means necessary, no matter if it’s Amala or her
brother. At that point, she and her trusty cultists could recover the dark relic and complete the ritual by
sacrificing whomever is left, including the hired transients.

Ordo Sanguinicus

Ordo Sanguinicus is a congregation of learned men specializing in the art and craft of medicine. Yet this
is but a mere blind for their true activities. Their medicinal research is only part of what the brethren's
research. They have developed a school of magic based on the use of human blood and tissue, a kind of
magic they have woven into the exercise of their profession's respectable facade.

The brethren are to be found all across the world, going about their unholy business in monastery
wards and hospitals. They form secret brotherhoods and always operate in teams as they do magic on
the operating table. Because of its dispersed nature, the order has developed hand signs and symbols of
recognition for the initiated. Its members' wealth, power, and prolonged lives is provided by the magic
they weave.

The order
""
– ???
How many brethren the order has is not known, but they use the Unhallowed Three Hundred when
speaking of their numbers. Whether they are three hundred or not is of little consequence to them.
The convent has a strict hierarchy. At the top is the Magus Maestri Sanguinicus himself, followed by
20 Magii Sanguinicus (sing. Magus Saguinicus). Together they form the Council of Twenty One. The
Magus Maestri has exercise great influence on the order, but he is no total despot. Once every twelve
moons the twenty-one meet to discuss order business. Each of the Magii Sanguinicus is head of his own
coven. The covens are made up of a varying number of Brethren. All Brethren are learned men
specializing in the art of medicine. They are all skilled healers, herbalists, chemists, and physicians.
When confronted, most members will admit to being members of a lodge or secret society, but they are
tight-lipped when it comes to revealing any details of the order's business.

The order is always on the look for new members. To hide its dark order of the day they try to recruit
as many members as they can. The more Brethren working in one place, the less likely they are to be
uncovered as heretics and magicians. In the unlikely event of a coven's business being unveiled, the
Brethren will most likely hire an assassin to eliminate this threat to their existence. They will do
anything to avoid being revealed. Any members wanting to withdraw from the order, or whose tongue
slips will meet an untimely death drenched in their own blood somewhere in a desolate area.

Although knowing quite well that they are practitioners of the dark magic, and as such have fallen to
the Darkness' lure, the Ordo Sanguinicus does not view themselves as heretics. To them heretics are
pathetic, as much governed by old prejudices and old ways as thinking as the zealous followers of the
Church. To the Brethren heretics have simply exchanged the Church's shackles with those of Cyrus' and
they view themselves somewhat better and more enlightened by that lot.

The Brethren have more or less withdrawn from human society. They devote themselves almost
entirely to the pursuit of enlightenment and to perfect the art and craft of their special kind of magic.
Their magic has been taught from the Plague Chronicle, a copy of which sits in many of the order's
congregations.

The Plague Chronicles
""
– ???
It is from the pages of the Plague Chronicles that much of the Ordo Sanguinicus' knowledge stem; at
least the part about diseases and epidemics. The Chronicles speaks of the tainted blood and of the thick
serum of Darkness, the Black Plague's very essence. It recounts the tale of how plague and epidemics
made their way into the world, how sickness and disease were once the children of the Dark Inheritors
but broke free and fled to across the rift in the Northern Mountains.

But above all this, the Plague Chronicles tell a tale of how the world truly is, how reality has been
overshadowed by the Church's lies, and why disease is allowed to settle in the heart of man. It tells the
truth about man's nature, about who we really are.

The Plague Chronicles is a mighty dark relic. Bound in the flesh of a man dead from the Bubonic
Plague, the book has magical powers. Wherever it is it spreads disease and epidemics. It has a Nature of
-32, and besides the effects described in the rulebook (page 184) it also reduces anyone's chances of
resisting the plague while in the book's proximity. When making a PHY roll to resist the effects of a
disease, the victim must always make a roll with Difficulty Level critical while the Plague Chronicles is
within 100 meters of him.

The Ordo Sanguinicus' own special kind of magic stems from the Plague Chronicle and developed
further by the work the Brethren perform in the wards and hospitals across the world. Using suffering
patients they have learnt to invoke the Darkness' powers to further their own ends of longevity and
wealth.

PAIN, WALK WITH ME
INVOCATION:
LEVEL:
ASPECTS:
REACH:
AREA OF EFFECT:
DURATION:
EFFECT:

BLOOD OF THE IMPURE
INVOCATION: "Blood to blood, plague to plague."
LEVEL:
ASPECTS:
REACH: –
AREA OF EFFECT: Personal.
DURATION: Until the victim is cured or dies.
EFFECT: By casting this spell the target comes down with a plague of the caster's choice. For more
about plagues, read about Arcats in chapter 2. After the invocation, the caster opens a vein on the
victim. He then cuts himself letting his and the victim's blood mix.

FRAILTY OF FLESH
INVOCATION: "The flesh is weak, but the spirit is weaker."
LEVEL:
ASPECTS:
REACH:
AREA OF EFFECT:
DURATION:
EFFECT:

STOLEN YEARS
INVOCATION: "In a heartbeat years pass you by, and death turns to ashes in my mouth."
LEVEL: 8
ASPECTS: Tempus (L4), Natura (L4),
REACH: –
AREA OF EFFECT: Personal
DURATION: 1D3 years
EFFECT: This is a longevity spell that allows the magician to stop his aging by stealing years from
another person. To cast this spell the magician will need a victim to steal the years from. It is done by
letting blood from the victim's jugular vein pour into an open lash on the magician's left wrist. In a
matter of minutes the victim will be drained of blood and die. The spell takes 1D3 minutes to complete,
and requires the victim to be unconscious. Once drained of blood, the victim will look like little more
than a skeleton draped in pale flesh.

It is a powerful spell with a terrible side effect. While the magician may have stopped the aging
process for the duration of the spell, once the stolen years have passed by he starts to age twice as fast
as normal. It is therefore an addictive spell that he will keep on casting over and over again to halt his
own increased aging.

Every time the spell wears off the magicians aging doubles once more. This means that after the first
time the spell wears off the magician will age 2 years for every year that passes. If he chooses to cast it
once more, he will age 4 years for every year that passes by after the spell wears off. The next time the
spell wears off he will age 8 years, and so on.

The Hospital in Ormel
""
– ???
Underneath Lord Celten's immense citadel sprawls the city of Ormel. It lies on the shores of the
Southern Ocean, and is the capitol of Bervoche. It is the province's most important center of trading. Its
harbor is always in bustling with activity as ships from across the world come to trade here. In the busy
trading quarters by the city' harbor lies the hospital. It is driven by a charitable organization of the city's
rich and wealthy, in an attempt to isolate foreign diseases that comes with the trading ships to the harbor
quarters. It was raised after the Great Plague ravaged the city a couple of hundred years ago. The
Hospital is staffed by competent physicians and healers, and is a sure place to find treatment for those
with little or no money to pay for the services. Always filled with patients, the Hospital in Ormel is
bustling with activity at all hours of the day.

On the surface everything seems all right with the Hospital. It does not have a particularly high death
rate among its patients. Keep in mind that in the world of Gemini those who seek a hospital is quite ill to
begin with, and that a visit to the hospital is by many considered a death sentence in itself. A place with
so many sick people in such a confined space is bound to be the breading grounds for epidemics. Having
a death rate of around fifty percent is not considered unusual. Yet, behind the surface there is something
unusual going on.

<<map of the hospital>>

LAYOUT OF THE HOSPITAL
On the first floor of the Hospital there are dormitories. In an adjacent building lies the operating room.
The operating room and the Hospital share a common basement. It is in the cellar that the convent meets
and goes about its unholy business. There is a simple elevator mechanism in the operating room, a trap
door in the floor with a rope attached to its four corners. The rope is attached to a pulley and can be
lowered down into the basement. The lift is commonly used to lower dead bodies into the basement
where they will be stored in the Hospital's morgue.

In the basement a secret door leads to the secret chambers of the Order Sanguinicus beneath the
Hospital proper. It is within these chambers that the Brethren convene, and it is within these chambers
that they perform their perverted rituals. It is within these secret chambers that the Brethren have their
separate cells, their studying chambers and the municipal library. It is within the library that they keep
their greatest treasure, a copy of the Plague Chronicles.

MANNY CALAVERA
The daily running of the Hospital is handled by Manny Calavera. He is a charismatic leader famed for
his fantastic healing skills. With ease he could have been the personal physician for any nobleman or -
woman in the city, yet he has chosen to work for next to nothing at the Hospital. Manny harbors a
secret. He is one of the twenty Magii Sanguinicus, and leader of the magician's convent that the
Hospital harbors. Most working at the Hospital are Brethren of the Order.

Adventure Hooks
""
– ???
A congregation with Brethren of the Ordo Sanguinics can be found anywhere in the world. While the
Hospital is located to Ormel, it serves as a general description of the congregations across the world.
Use it as a template or simply relocate it for your own narrative.

WHO?
Who is the Magus Maestrii Sanguinicus? Except the twenty-one Magii Sanguinicus no one really
knows. Rumors have it that the personal physician of the Marquis of Ravarra and the

CONSPICUOUS DEATH
The adventurers are approached by an old sailor. He hires them to get to the bottom of his brother's
death. A week ago his brother was brought to the Hospital because of a broken bone. When the sailor
left him that night, it was the last time he would see his brother. Alive, that is. Upon returning the next
day the sailor could learn that his brother had died during the night, of an infection to the wound. The
only thing was that he had had a clean break. The bone did not pierce the sailor's brother's skin, and
there was no wound to infect.
The sailor finds all of this quite strange. The sailor and his brother had recently inherited a small
fortune that they were to collect the same night as the incident leading to his brother breaking his leg. So
the sailor

The Thrice Cursed of Orschild
Orschild is on the brink of civil war. It is becoming increasingly apparent that Lord Gideon is losing
control of his province. The sovereign's alliance with the Sau kin threatens to tear the province apart.
Little does any of the actors in this struggle know that they are simply pawn in Cyrus' and Lazarus'
struggle for control of the province. Lazarus' Dark Crusade is about to topple Lord Gideon, blocking
the path for Cyrus' advance from the north. Cyrus in turn, cannot let this happen and has set even
darker and more destructive powers in play as he makes his bid for the fledgling province.
But the story begins far outside the Darkness' ranks.

The Dwarf Persecutions
""
– ???
Together with the disinherited son of Lord Gideon, the young prince Orwen, Sturm Grender founded the
Freedomers (Orschild – Winds of War page 55). Both having been deprived of their noble birthrights,
they nurture a deep animosity towards the short folk. Especially dwarfs of the Sau kin. In 1291 they
start agitating. Their mode of argumentation is that the dwarfs have too much power in Orschild, and
that this power should be returned to its rightful wielders, the humans. Gaining a steady following, the
Freedomers do little but talk for the first years. Then in late 1292 things turn for the nastier.
Prince Orwen and Gender learns about the Avenger, an elf of Gamiel's kind who had been all but
slain during the Second Elf War.

is threatened by the Freedomers' dwarfen persecutions (Orschild – Winds of War page 52). The
Freedomers, however, have been infiltrated by the Darkness. They are being used as a tool to instigate
civil war. It was no mere accident that they learnt it was Cenobis Sau who inflicted that heinous wound
on the Avenger. It was no mere accident that the Sau kin has been targeted by the Freedomers' actions.
The Dark Martyr has forged a pact with Celak Sau's descendant Cerek Sau, a cousin's cousin of
Cenobis Sau, twelfth heir to the title as head of Sau kin. Acting through Cerek, Cyrus has instigated the
dwarfen persecutions. For Cerek, whose agents are seated deep within the ranks of the Freedomers, the
loss of dwarfen life is a small price to pay. He has been promised total dominion over Orschild once
Cyrus unleashes his hordes on the province. In turn, Cerek is using the seemingly random dwarfen
killings as a smoke screen for his own political assassinations. One after the other those preceding him
as heir to the Sau kin are killed.

The lost kin
<<MTC>>
<<Trenger en twist til dette plotet. Den åpenbare løsningen er å si at Cyrus også lurer Cerek, men den
twisten har jeg allerede brukt opp for dette supplementet. Kanskje det er flere av Sau kin som har
inngått allianse med Cyrus? Eller kanskje noen andre som selv kommer etter Cerek i arverekkefølgen
også bruker sjansen til å rydde seg vei til toppen av pyramiden>>
The Dark Jester
<<MTC>>
Magic items
The bracers of Vuriche
<<MTC>>
The first book of Jebel
<<MTC>>
The Chronicle of Plague
<<MTC>>
Hedge wizardry
<<MTC>>



CHAPTER 8: THE
DARKNESS IN PLAY



This chapter is about how you, the Narrator, can write the Darkness into your games. When it comes to
using the Darkness in your games, there are two issues you have to consider. There is first the issue of
staging the Darkness. In other words, in what way will the Darkness make its appearance in your
episodes and narratives? The other issue is one of playing heretics, understanding their reasons for
renouncing their childhood faith and pledge allegiance with the dark forces. One thing is for certain: the
road into Darkness is paved with good intentions. A heretic is not simply an extremely evil character
that will do its best to overthrow the human realms. Another thing you should keep in mind is that the
Darkness is not almighty, but a rather motley collection of various factions.

But let's deal with these issues in a more ordered manner. Let's take them one by one. Starting with
how to stage the Darkness in your games.

Staging the Darkness
The Darkness isn't an all-pervasive force, this one synchronized sledgehammer that will swoop down on
mankind. However way the Church may describe it, internal strife and infighting is just as prevalent
among the Darkness' hordes as it is among humanity. Why else did you think the Darkness failed in the
first place? If their demonic hordes were as powerful as the Church say they were, if their numbers were
as great as the ancient chronicles say they were, how could a small, ragged band of human defenders
beat them back? Oh, they did have the One, didn't they, but still… The matter of the fact is that internal
strife and fragmentation was draining the Armies of Darkness for it potential.

Things aren't much different today, year 1295 after the Revelation. Cyrus is the equivalent of
Emperor Palpatine in the 'Star Wars' universe, no question about that, and Malachdrim is his Darth
Vader. While nominally head of the Darkness' in the human lands, unlike what he likes to give
impression of Cyrus isn't in complete control. Marquis Lazarus may pay lip service to the Dark Martyr,
but does whatever pleases him most of the time. The demons and the possessed may be subservient, yet
the world's covens are made up of humans with their own reasons for pledging allegiance to the
Darkness. Not all are as servile as Cyrus and the Church claims them to be. Look to the Urchins of
Assentium. Why do they serve the Darkness if not for quite prosaic reasons like food? And what about
the three covens in Gerynia? Their pledging allegiance to the Darkness was simply a move in a longrunning
feud between two families. For them it was all about power. That this power was provided by
the Darkness was second nature to them.

But the Darkness isn't always being used as a means to an end. It uses people as a means to its own
ends. Like the story of the Thrice Cursed of Orschild. At core it is a story about Cyrus and Lazarus
evening out the odds in their own internal strife for control of the world. For them it is a struggle for the
Throne of Darkness. Who will sit upon it the day when the Darkness sweeps across the land and
enslaves all mankind? Will it be Lazarus or will it be Cyrus? And who are the other Dark Inheritors?
Why haven't they made it through the rift in the Northern Mountains?

These are the issues you, the Narrator, have to take into consideration when bringing the Darkness
into your narratives.

The Tarot of Darkness
Chapter 6 does not only serve the purpose as a collection of pret-a-porter covens and locations for use
in your games. Each of them is an example of the cards in our little Tarot of Darkness. The Tarot is not
a dark relic to be used in your games – well, it could be, but that is not the intention of this section – it
is a tool for the Narrator to better understand how to write the Darkness into his games. The Tarot
consists of six cards, and each card is an archetypical way of involving the Darkness in a game of
Gemini. Think of the Tarot as a tool for writing the Darkness into a narrative instead of as a definite
guide to the hows and whys of that corrupting force of evil. Let is look at each card of the Tarot one by
one to reveal the cliche hiding behind.

THE DABBLERS
The Dabblers, presented above in shape of the Urchins of Assentium, is a group who deals with the
Darkness without truly knowing the consequences of their actions. It is the classic devil worshipers of
horror fiction. When you read a book starting with the worn phrase "Oh Lord, please forgive us for we
knew not what we were letting ourselves in on." you know that the card of The Dabblers have been
played from the Tarot.

The Dabblers are not always serious about their dealings with the Darkness. They might simply be
curious and not aware of the consequences of their actions. They might simply be experimenting with
the Darkness, and happening upon something of great importance. In the case of the Urchins they have
stumbled upon a demon that will provide them powers they would never else have had. This is also a
situation where the Dabblers keep forgetting the age-old rule that there is no such thing as free lunch.
In the end the Dabblers will always be caught up by the Darkness, finally realizing what they have
let themselves in on (hence the cliche phrase "for we knew not what we were letting ourselves in on").
Bad things start happening, and the Dabblers may even be forced to take part in those bad things
themselves. It's payback time, and this time around the Dabblers might very well be on the receiving end
of things as the Darkness starts collecting favors.

Having played the card of The Dabblers tragedy will almost always follow in its wake.

THE EVIL HEART
The Evil Heart involves an organization whose intentions, while not necessarily benign, are not to
further the Darkness' ends. Or so its members believe. However, at the organization's heart it carries a
dark secret that only an initiated inner core of the society knows of.

Using the example above, the Inner Circle is simply an organization of well-off citizens meeting to
exchange favors in mutual cooperation. Or is it? When playing the card of The Evil Heart from the
Tarot we are talking about a group of people who firmly believe their activities to be all but in the
Darkness' service. They are often serving their own ends, like the Inner Circle. However at the heart the
organization has been corrupted. The benign organization, the face towards the world might have been
set up as a cover-up or persons with evil intent may have seized control of an organization that started
out as otherwise charitable and benign.

Probably the main point when playing The Evil Heart is that we have an organization that is secret
per se, but its activities are perfectly legal and harmless. The lay-members of the organization, the
uninitiated masses, have no reason to believe something to be at miss. While they might be tight-lipped
about the doings of the organization, they themselves are not meddling with the Darkness. They are
simply being used as pawns in a large game.

The Inner Circle of the Guild is archetypical to incarnations of the Evil Heart. The Inner Circle is the
creme de la creme of the secret society. Only the most prominent and wealthy members of the
organization are accepted into its numbers. To be accepted each member must pass through a rite of
initiation where they incriminate themselves, and thereby providing the Heresiarch with an angle which
to force absolute obedience on the Inner Circle's members. This way he can make sure that his heresy
will not be uncovered.

Think of the worst conspiracy theories surrounding real world Freemasonry when playing the Evil
Heart. Without passing any form of judgement on the orders of Freemasonry, it is a secret society
whose existence is not secret but whose rules and members are. By pledging an allegiance of secrecy
towards the society and its brethren outsiders know little what is going about within the orders.

THE DECADENT
For the Decadent the Darkness plays a secondary role. Their primary concern is their mutual struggle
against each other. If you look at the Two Estates, an example of the Decadent, you will see that both
families have fallen to the Darkness in a quest for the ultimate weapon. Playing the card of the Decadent
from out little Tarot, you <<...>>

THE CONGREGATION
They have pledged their lives to serving the Darkness. The Congregation is usually a secluded coven,
isolated from the rest of society, going about their wicked business uninterrupted by the Church and
uninitiated outsiders. The congregation leads a life by its own twisted standards, following its own
perverted social rules, working towards a common heretical goal.
In Gemini such congregations are usually collection of wizards honing the forbidden art of magic to
perfection. Unlike other convents, the congregation consists of few laymen. Most members have been
initiated in the secrets of the

THE CONSPIRACY
Hiding behind the sixth card of the Tarot is paranoia. Who did what and why? The Conspiracy is like
an onion, peel off one layer but instead of getting to the core of the mystery you reach yet another layer
that has to be peeled off. The Conspiracy often consists of conspiracies within conspiracies, doubledealing
and treason. A comparison equally apt with the onion is to compare the card of The Conspiracy
with a spider's web. It is an intricate connection of conspiracies and goals, but as with the onion the web
also has a core and in both situations the Darkness is sitting in the middle of this core.

The Thrice Cursed of Orshcild is a typical example of The Conspiracy. At the surface it seems like
nothing connected to the Darkness and its minions. On the contrary rather, but once delving deeper into
the matter we peel off layer after layer until revealing the spider in the middle of its web, the Dark
Martyr.

The characters that are part of the conspiracy always have hidden agendas. Such agendas can vary
from the rather mundane of acquiring more wealth to something as malign as overthrowing the
Sovereigns and the Church. Common to all characters involved in the conspiracy is that they believe
themselves to be the spider in the midst of the web, quite unaware that they are being played as cat's
paws by the very people they believe to be playing as cat's paws themselves. It is conspiracy within
conspiracy within conspiracy, treason upon treason upon treason, in an almost unending, macabre
Machiavellian dance of merry-go-round.

THE DARKNESS REINCARNATE
Creating and Playing Heretics
Having spelt out archetypical ways of writing the Darkness into different cards in the Tarot of Darkness
it is time

Implications of Heresy
It might be easier to understand the psyche and motivations of a heretic if you learn of the implications
his choice has on his life. As a heretic you have renounced your faith in the One. In a Churchly province
this is basically the same as declaring opposition against the rulers. In a Sovereign's province this part
does not mean much. Yet, regardless of whether you live in a churchly province or an area rule by a
Sovereign, having declared allegiance with the Darkness is considered the ultimate treason. The
implications are rather drastic.

If your true allegiance should ever be uncovered, you will most likely stand before an ad-hoc court
that will find you guilty of heresy. There is only one verdict in the matter of heresy: death by burning. It
does not matter much if it is a zealous Inquisitor or a secular court that sentences you. The verdict is
always the same. At best you can hope to flee if your allegiance is uncovered, but you will still loose all
you have worked for. It is not uncommon for known heretics to be chased across the realm, with a
group of witch-hunters on their trail intent on catching and sentencing the heretic.

But if the implications are so severe, why are there heretics at all in the world?

While this may never be expressed in any form of game mechanics, think of any human follower of
the Darkness as a drug addict. So powerful is the lure of the Darkness that your behavior grows erratic
and irrational. To begin with you will be perfectly able to control things. But with each fleeting glimpse
of the power the Darkness can provide you with, you are drawn deeper and deeper into a quagmire of
lies and secrecy. There is simply no getting enough of that sweet taste of all-engulfing power, no matter
the cost. Before you know it, there is no turning back. You have involved yourself too deeply,
incriminated yourself, and now you stand no chance of returning to being a non-heretic. Even if you
wanted to, but you probably cannot.

Creating the Heretic
When creating a heretic there are three issues you have to deal with. 1) The reason why he has pledged
allegiance to the Darkness. What kind of personality would a character have to pledge himself to that
which he knows to be evil, and what are his motivations? 2) What are his objectives for becoming a
minion of the Darkness? 3) How does this affect the way you deal with the rest of the world?

THE REASONS WHY
When you are going to play a heretic, you have got to ask yourself one question: "why ever would my
character expose himself to the deadly danger of pledging allegiance to the Darkness when he knows
that if he is exposed he will be convicted and burnt at the stake for sure?". In short, what are his
motivations for becoming a heretic? A heretic is not necessarily an evil person, unlike what the Church
wants its followers to believe.

There may be a number of reasons why your character has chosen to renounce his original faith and
pledge himself to the Dark Inheritors. He need not have chosen such a fate for himself, it might in fact
have been chosen for him. Think of Lady Tanda, for instance. She was never given a choice. Her fate
was set out for her when Prince de Lancre turned to the witch for help. Bishop Ignatio, on the other
hand, chose his allegiance coldly and cynically. For him it was a question of power and of wielding the
mighty magic.

While creating the heretic it might be useful to know his motivations for changing allegiance. Has he,
like Ignatio, chosen this fate for himself, or has he, like the Urchins of Assentium, been lured into it by
promises of a better life? Does he know that he is doing the Darkness bidding, or is he like the Inner
Circle's members unaware of his true allegiance? Is he using the Darkness to further his own goals, or is
he, like Malachdrim, driven into the Darkness clutches as a last resort?

OBJECTIVES AND PERSONALITY
What does the heretic hope to achieve by becoming an agent of the Darkness? The heretic's personality
and his objectives with pledging allegiance to the Darkness often converge, and they often follow
logically from his motivations for converting. We can tell from Bishop Ignatio's conversion to the
Darkness that his original objectives were power. Ignation was hungry for the power provided by the
mighty magic. Malachdrim, on the other hand, converted out of revenge. His objectives were to redeem
himself, to take revenge on his Queen and make her spawn with him anew.

OUTLOOK
As a heretic you can trust no one. You live in a world where almost anyone would have you burnt at the
stake if they learnt your true allegiance. Unless you live in Merodak, that is. Then again, you can never
trust anyone there either. Everyone is looking for a short cut up the ladder towards power. In Merodak
even reciting you Hail the Dark Inheritors wrongly will most probably get you in trouble. But that is
another matter.

Harboring the dark secret should make you wary and suspicious once you are a heretic. You never
know when the Inquisition is setting up a trap for you. Some places it may even be sufficient for
someone to accuse you of being a heretic, and you are as good as convicted and tied to the stake
already. You know this. You know that people in their narrow-mindedness hate your kind, and would do
their best to have you killed. For the fear of what calamities your presence might bring onto them, if
nothing else.

All of this will affect the way you role-play your character. But there are other issues at stake.

Role-playing a Heretic
Here lies the true challenge of playing a minion of Marquis Lazarus: how to roleplay such a character?
Lazarus' men have personalities, traits, and motivations just like any other character in Gemini, let's
not forget that. But there is another element to them that makes minions of the Darkness different from
other characters in the game: they have pledged their allegiance to the Darkness. As Bishop Ignation
observes in the introduction to this book, the Darkness is a harsh mistress. How is that?

At one level the Darkness preaches of individual freedom, and of breaking free from the shackles of
the One. Its gospel is to reveal reality as it truly is. Followers of the Darkness will be helped to see
through the lies of the Church, through to the other side, to the real world. Implied is that this true world
is a better place, a place where no shackles bar your personal freedom. But the Darkness' speaks with a
cloven tongue, for it also speaks of the unmentionable power the Darkness will grant its devout
followers. Power to control other people, the power to bend them to your will. It speaks of the hallowed
blessings given by the Dark Inheritors and of the immense power you can wield with the forbidden
magic, but the Darkness says naught about the corrupting force that comes with the power.

THE CORRUPTING POWER
Magic is a blessing that comes with the highest price tag ever, that of its wielder's soul. Empowered by
magic the wielder will feel on top of world. The world is before his very feet, but coming down from
this high, oh how painful that can be. You will be plunged into the deepest valley of shadows, into a
bottomless pit of darkness and despair. Stripped of all your might and power you see how small and
insignificant your are in the scheme of things, how alone you truly are in the whole wide world.

Everyone accepting the Darkness' blessing will experience these moments of complete and utter despair
and blackness. Even Marquis Lazarus is known to throw fits of the deepest depression after having
wielded his Darkness-imbued powers.

But there is one cure…
The cure is to devote more to the Darkness' will. To make oneself worthy of a new blessing, and
attain more power. It is this inner drive towards power that turns most followers of the Darkness into
egotistical and power-hungry persons. For the Darkness is a double-edged sword. It is the provider of
hope and the depriver of hope. It is the catalyst for power, but also the absorber of power. It is the
ultimate drug, but with an incurable addiction. Once hooked on the Darkness' power, there is usually
only one way to follow: that of the Darkness' will. In the end the heretic may have broken free of the
Church's shackles, but ends up a slave to a new and even harsher mistress: the Darkness.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE
But even if you do not accept the Darkness blessings, even if you do not wield the mighty magic, the
price for following the Darkness will be high. It is truly as the Church emissaries say: "Dealing with the
Darkness, you can never fathom the consequences it will have for you." For most it starts small. Maybe
as an occult gathering deep in the forest outside of your village, or perhaps as a secret society meeting
in some abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. No strings attached, no price to pay, only some
people meeting to learn how to break free of the shackles imposed upon them by the Church and the
gospel of the One.

With time you will learn secrets that you were not supposed to learn, you hear of things not meant to
be heard, and slowly but certainly you are drawn into a web of immeasurable consequences. Soon
words are turned into actions as you entwine yourself even more in the cobweb you have been caught in,
and you do not realize what you have involved yourself in until it is too late. By then it is too late to
withdraw, you have too much on your conscience, you have been compromised and things will never
return to what they used to be. Whether it is of your own free will, or that you are being pressured by
other followers of the Darkness – either way you will continue to serve the Darkness' will for you have
no other choice lest you want to be tortured and burnt at the stake for being the heretic you are.
Such is the fate of those who follow the Darkness.

Dark Narratives
So far all we have discussed is how you, the Narrator, can use the Darkness as the eternal enemy for
your narratives. There is yet another aspect to involving the Darkness in your narratives, and that is for
the player characters to be serving the Darkness, a dark narrative. The very thought is almost heresy in
itself, and it is a rather clean break with the original concept of the game. Yet, it is a possibility.

Playing the World
Seen from a heretic's point of view, the world looks quite different than we are used to. Things are
turned upside-down.

The Church's only goal is to enslave mankind. Through its false preaching it aims to lull the people into
passiveness and instill a sense of unquestionable obedience in them. Despite preaching of justice and
righteousness, the Church's bigotry is obvious to anyone wanting to open their eyes. Words and deeds
do not match. The Church's only goal is to mass power at mankind's expense. It is only through treating
its followers unjustly, by lying to them, and by being unrighteous that the Church can mass power.
Members of the clergy are all fanatic followers who refuse to admit to the Church's bigotry staring them
straight in their faces. The clergymen are at best misguided. At worst they are simply evil-hearted. No
ignorance can make them blind to the pain and suffering they inflict on their servants and lay-members
of the Church. Can they not see that the time for miracles is over? Can they not see that they have been
made for fools?

The world's general populace is simply ignorant. They have been misguided by the gospel of the
Church, and do not know what is best for them. Hundreds of years of learning does take a while to
undo. In the mean time they will continue to believe that any trace of the Darkness must be driven away
by fire. That the Darkness is among them every day, everywhere, is beyond them. If they only knew that
the dark feelings they harbor for their neighbor is

You should emphasis the tyranny and bigotry of the Church.

Staging a dark narrative, a narrative where the player characters actually play agents of the Darkness,
can be exciting – both for the players and the Narrator. It is



PART III:
APPENDIX



HORROR AND MADNESS
The world of Gemini is a dark and cruel place. The cruelty of mankind combined with the terrors of the
Darkness can make even the strongest mind snap. Their brushes with the Darkness not going to leave
the player characters entirely unscathed. The horrible experiences may, at best, leave them shaken. At
worst they may end up locked up in the deepest sanatoriums climbing walls with a severe psychosis, or
maybe even end up dead in the gutter from a heart attack induced by the horror. Who knows?
These rules are meant to add an extra dimension to the darkness of Gemini. They may be used at the
Narrator's discretion.

Mental resilience
If you want to use the new rules for horror madness, you have to introduce an additional secondary
attribute – Mental resilience. This secondary attribute shows how much mental pressure a character
can take before his mind starts budging. It works quite similar to Endurance (see the rulebook page 25).
The higher the value, the stronger your character's mind is at resisting the horrors of reality.
Record your character's mental levels.

Mental level
Shaken Shocked Horrified Struck by terror
MEN
2 - - 1 2+
3 - 1 2 3+
4 - 1 2-3 4+
5 1 2 3-4 5+
6 1 2 3-5 6+
7 1 2-3 4-6 7+
8 1 2-3 4-7 8+
9 1 2-4 5-8 9+
10 1-2 3-4 5-9 10+
11 1-2 3-5 6-10 11+
12 1-2 3-5 6-11 12+
13 1-2 3-6 7-12 13+
14 1-3 4-6 7-13 14+
15 1-3 4-7 8-14 15+
16 1-3 4-7 8-15 16+
17 1-3 4-8 9-16 17+
18 1-4 5-8 9-17 18+
19 1-4 5-9 10-18 19+
20 1-4 5-9 10-19 20+
If, against all odds, a character should happen to have a MEN value higher than 20, the different mental
levels are worked out as follows: shaken = 1; shocked = MEN x0.25; horrified = MEN x0.5; and struck
by terror = MEN x1.

Example: John's character has a MEN of 16. His mental resilience is therefore: shaken 1-3, shocked
4-7, horrified 8-15, and struck by terror 16+

Horror
When your characters experience events that are so terrible, so mind-blowing there is a chance it will
mark them mentally, you may be asked to make a Horror Roll. This is an attribute roll using MEN. A
Horror Roll is induced by a horrible event, be it the discovery of a severely ritually murdered body, or a
horrible discovery about the real nature of mankind. Seeing behind the scenes and discover the real truth
about the order of things is not simply a matter of discovery, it is a matter of having one's entire view of
the world completely re-organized. Not something even the strongest of mind escape unscathed from.

Every horrible event has a Horror Level. The Horror Level is a measure of how horrible the
experience really is. The higher the horror level, the more horrible the experience. The Narrator uses the
horror level as his CS with his part of the Horror Roll.

Results of the Horror Roll
Once both you and the Narrator have rolled your horror rolls, it is time to compare your effects. If your
effect is higher than the Narrator's your character has escaped from the horrible event a bit startled, but
apart from that untouched. However, if the Narrator's effect was higher than yours, your character has
been touched by the experience, and depending on the difference between your effects.

If the effect of Narrator's horror roll was higher than yours, your character has been marked by the
horrible experience. Subtract your effect from the Narrator's effect. In the same way as you check for
damage, you use the difference of effect to compare with your character's mental resilience to find out
how the experience has marked your character (if he is simply shaken, shocked, horrified, or struck by
terror).

If your character is shaken, is feels a bit queasy, sick, his head hurts, and the world seems to be
spinning. Subtract 1 from your character's well being. Nothing more happens.
A shocked result from the horror roll is not too bad either. At least not when thinking of the
possibilities. Your character has been marked by the experience. Subtract 2 from his well being. He also
acquires a mental disorder (see below). It is up to the Narrator to pick the disorder.
Being horrified usually puts your character out of action. The experience has touched something
deep inside making his mind snap, setting hidden emotions in action and basically screwing up your
character's head. Subtract 2 from his well being, as your character curls up in a fetal position catatonic.
He will remain like this for 5 minutes. During that time it is impossible to force him out of the fetal
position, and nothing seems to reach him. It is impossible to communicate with him. When he awakes,
your character is one psychosis richer (see below). Which psychosis your character has developed is up
to the Narrator to pick. For the next 24 hours he is totally out of sync with the world around him, and
most of all your character just wants to get home and go to sleep.

If your character is struck by terror the chances that he will be unplayable are great. He might even
die from the shock! What is for sure, the experience has driven him raving mad. He attains a severe
psychosis, and it will not take long until he walks the streets raving and ranting. The psychosis has
taken control of him, and unless it suits the Narrator to let you continue play your character, he is
handed over to the Narrator as an NPC.

If your character is struck by terror, you should make an attribute roll for CON with DL +4. If the
roll is failed, the terror has made your character's heart stop. He falls to the ground, shaking violently
for a minute or so until he dies, blue face, starting eyes, and froth around his mouth.

Examples of horrible situations
Below follows a list of some horrible situations that may arise during the game. The list is by no means
meant to be conclusive, more as a guide for the Narrator to decide the horror level for situations that
might arise in his own stories.

Situation Horror level
Shocking experience 10
Horrifying experience 15
Truly mind-shattering horror 20

SHOCKING EXPERIENCE
Examples of a shocking experience include witnessing someone getting killed, or witnessing someone
being tortured.

HORRIFYING EXPERIENCE
Examples of horrifying experiences include witnessing a friend getting killed, sustaining a mortal
wound, or beholding a horribly bloated and disfigured corpse.

TRULY MIND-SHATTERING HORROR
Examples of truly mind-shattering horror includes witnessing one's entire family being brutally
slaughtered before your very eyes, seeing someone get flayed alive, or undergo torture oneself.

Madness
There are two levels of madness. The most common form of madness is called a mental disorder. The
other form of madness is somewhat more severe, and it is called a psychosis. Although not at all
uncommon, a psychosis is a severe mental disorder, something that will affect a character's personality
in a fundamental way.

Below follows a list of the more common mental disorders and psychosises. The Narrator is free to
come up with his own if he feels like it.
Mental disorders
The mental disorder may easily be perceived by other people as a clever idea on the afflicted character's
part. It does not affect the character's personality in a fundamental way, but it is likely to make him
seem a bit eccentric and peculiar.

ABSENT-MINDEDNESS
Your character forgets things easily. His mind seems to be constantly preoccupied with something of
greater value than the life surrounding him. He is unable to focus on a single thing for a longer time,
impairing his ability to learn. He has a DL -6 to all attribute rolls involving the Knowledge Area of
Learning.

COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR
Your character is afflicted with compulsive behavior. He has a fixation on a certain act or idea. It is a
quirk he simply cannot let go of. The compulsive behavior may be as harmless as always having to step
in the middle of cobblestones, but it is usually a bit more severe. Below follows a list with examples of
more common compulsive behavior.
· anorexia - Your character is convinced he is fat and need not eat. After eating your character will
have to make a MEN attribute roll. If the roll is failed, he vomits the food he has just eaten. On the
Narrator's discretion your character may loose weight.
· biting fingernails - your character has the bad habit of biting his nails.
· kleptomania - Compulsive stealing. Your character cannot help stealing. Every time your character
has the opportunity to steal, you have to roll an attribute roll using MEN. The Narrator is free to set
difficulty level for this test. If the test is failed, your character cannot help but steal his object of
desire.
· clothing - There is only one or two sets of clothes that your character can wear.
· gambling - Your character is a compulsive gambler. He has to gamble when the opportunity bids
itself. If he does not want to gamble, you have to succeed with an attribute roll using MEN.
· gluttony - Your character is possessed with eating. He cannot stop when there is still food left.
When your character has the opportunity to eat, you will have to make an attribute roll using MEN.
If the roll is failed, your character simply has to start eating. On the Narrator's discretion your
character may gain weight.
· mantras - Your character is constantly reciting certain words and phrases. People lightly touched by
this disorder may only recite their mantra in difficult situations. Other may be constantly reciting
the phrase loudly over and over again.
· memorization - There is an almost morbid fixation on memorizing certain types of useless, trivial
knowledge on your character's part. This may be the fixation to remember all the street names he
passes, or remember the number and the order of all coins passing through his hands.
· pathological lying - your character just cannot stop lying. No matter how important the truth is, he
simply cannot seem to avoid twisting it about in one way or another. Whenever it is important for
your character to tell something that is completely true, without adding or taking away important
elements, you have to roll an attribute roll using MEN. If you succeed with the roll, your character
has been able to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

EGOTIST
Everyone's in it for themselves. As long as your character cannot seem to benefit from making he will
never help or assist anyone else. Personal sacrifice is a word not in his vocabulary, and extreme
personal, short-term benefit must be the motivation for any personal sacrifice.

FANATICISM
There is one cause, one thing your character is more important than anything, be it a religion or
something else. At all cost he will try to convince everyone else about the importance of this cause. He
interprets everything along the lines of the creed, and his belief system is always correct. Your character
rigidly refuses to re-consider his opinions, and he will do anything – anything! – to protect his system of
belief.

GREED
Money and wealth is the only on your character's mind. No sacrifice is too big if it can accumulate more
wealth for him. Family, friends, health, no sacrifice is too big. Generosity is simply not in your
character's vocabulary.

HEADACHES
There is something, deep down in your character's consciousness that is bothering him. He cannot put
word to it, but he is constantly having that nagging feeling. It is so bad that his neck and shoulders are
stiff and aching, giving him a constant headache. Whenever your character fails any attribute roll using
MEN, he is hit with a blinding headache that reduces his well being with 2 points for 30+1D20 minutes,
after which his well being is restored.

HEROIC IDIOCY
Characters afflicted with this disorder are seemingly fearless. They have no heed for danger. You get a
DL +4 when making horror roll. The only problem is that your character is unafraid for his life, making
him a reckless and dangerous person.

INSOMNIA
Your character really does not seem to be able to sleep. No matter how tired, he just does not seem to be
able to sleep. It may be days between each time he is able to catch some sleep.

INTOLERANCE
Certain people just tick your character off. Everything is wrong with these people, they simply do not
seem to get anything right! There is a special trait by people that your character is intolerant to. He
really do not seem to be able to behave when people he is intolerant against is in the same room.
Uncontrollable insults and groundless accusations just seems haggle on the poor target. Your character
definitely has a chip on his shoulder when in these people's presence, and he is definitely not going to do
anything about it. There is no way anyone can make him not show his disapproval, and he is unable to
control it himself.

Below follows a list of possible things your character may be intolerant to. You are free to come up
with new reasons for intolerance.
· gender - your character is intolerant to persons of the opposites sex
· nationality - your character really cannot deal with people from other provinces than his own, the
rest of the world's population are all rascals and bandits
· personality traits - certain personality traits, like generous people, or maybe particularly greedy
people, just simply tick your character off
· profession - a certain group of professionals, for instance lawyers or policemen, are plainly bad
people
· social group - intolerance against a certain social group be it poor people, extremely rich people, the
aristocracy, students, or another social group

INTROVERSION
This kind of self-centeredness makes your character disinterested in the surrounding world. He seems
disassociated and is unable to empathize with other people. Subtract 2 from his CHA score on a
permanent basis.

MEGALOMANIA
An inflated ego and overly great trust in one's own personality is the call sign of any megalomaniac.
Your character is consumed with his grandeur and personal power. He will do anything to attain more
power. Family, friends, health; no sacrifice is too great to achieve greater personal power.

NARCISISM
Your character is overly obsessed with himself. Whenever passing a mirror or his reflection in a shop
window, he must pass an attribute roll using MEN to avoid stopping and admiring himself.

NIGHTMARES
Waking several times a night screaming, drenched with sweat, your character is suffering from terrible
nightmares. He thrashes about and screams in his sleep, waking up completely exhausted.
Unfortunately, he cannot seem to remember his dreams.

PHOBIA
Your character has an irrational fear of some sort of object or situation. Being confronted with his fear,
your character has to make an attribute roll using MEN to avoid fleeing. If he is forced to face the
object of his fear, with no chance of escape you have to make a horror roll. The horror level of such an
event is 10.
Below follows a list of the more common types of phobias. The list is not conculsive.
· acrophobia - fear of heights
· agoraphobia - fear of open places
· androphobia - fear of males. Only applicable to female characters.
· astraphobia - fear of thunder, lightning, and storms
· ballistophobia - fear of bullets and gunfire
· belonephobia - fear of pins and needles
· botaniophobia fear of plants
· claustrophobia - fear of enclosed spaces
· clinophobia - fear of beds
· demophobia - fear of crowds
· dendrophobia - fear of trees
· doraphobia - fear of fur. Characters with this delusion is afraid of all kinds of furry animals
· entomophobia - fear of insects
· gephydrophobia- fear of crossing bridges
· gynephobia - fear of females. Only applicable to male characters.
· hematophobia -fear of blood
· iatrophobia - fear of doctors
· necrophobia - fear of dead
· ophiophobia - fear of snakes
· pediphobia - fear of children
· pyrophobia - fear of fire
· scotophobia fear of darkness
· thalassophobia - fear of water
· vestiphobia - fear of clothing
· xenophobia - fear of foreigners
· zoophobia - fear of animals

QUIXOTISM
The fantastic and supernatural is everywhere. Your character sees the fantastic and supernatural in
everything, and no-one can convince him there is not something out there, something mankind cannot
explain.

RATIONALISM
To the point of annoyance, your character finds a rational explanation to everything, even the most
unexplainable of all events. The supernatural is not in his vocabulary. He needs to find a rational
explanation to everything. Rationalism is usually a sign of an extremely terrified individual, someone
who needs to order the reality that surrounds him.

SKIN COMPLAINT
Your character is troubled with rashes that break out across his body. The frequency of these rashes
increases in stressful times.

STUPEFACTION
Whenever a character suffering from this mental disorder fails any attribute roll involving the use of
MEN, he becomes completely disinterested in the surrounding world. He just freezes. He does not
speak, or take notice of the world around him. Other people may take hold of him and lead him, make
him sit down, and other simple actions. The state lasts for approximately 5 minutes.

STUTTER
Your character stutters when he speaks. He has automatically DL -2 to attribute rolls using the
communication area of knowledge.

TALKING IN SLEEP
Your character constantly speaks aloud when sleeping. It is not always easy to discern the words he are
saying, and when it is possible to do so, he does not seem to be talking coherent in any way.

TALKING TO SELF
Your character is constantly, and unconsciously, talking to himself. If confronted with this, he will not
understand what people are talking about. He is completely unaware of the fact that he is talking to
himself.

TOUCHY
Your character is unusually touchy. Almost anything that can be interpreted in a negative way, is
interpreted that way.

TREMORS
Shaking uncontrollably, your character has -1 to all attribute rolls involving the areas of knowledge
close combat and missile weapons.

TRIVIAL DELUSION
This is a mild for of delusion. It has no major effect on your character's life, only making him seem
somewhat eccentric. Below follows a few examples of trivial delusions:
· Your character believes all policemen to be somewhat stupid, talking to them as if they were
children.
· Houses with round attic windows are especially prone to rat infestation. Your character
promptly refuses to eat, sleep, or even stay for a longer period of time in a house with round
attic.
· Costermongers are particularly unclean people. Your character refuses to eat vegetables and
fruits bought from a costermonger because he believes the wares to be so dirty that it will not
even help to rinse them in water.

Psychosis
A psychosis is a serious mental disorder. It will affect your character's personality in a profound and
fundamental way.

AMNESIA
The shock of the terrible experience has given your character a memory loss. He is unable to remember
anything that happened before he got the psychosis. His name, his background, everything. He even
forgets that he has particular skills, but areas of knowledge and specializations are not lost. Your
character simply doe not know why he knows the things he know.
It is up to the Narrator to give your character a chance to regain some of his lost memories.

CATATONIA
Catatonia is a serious form of stupefaction (see Mental Disorders above). Whenever your character fails
an attribute roll involving MEN in any way, he curls up in a fetal position. No-one is able to get to him,
not even the strongest person can uncurl him. Your character will remain in this position for 10+1D20
minutes. After that he becomes somewhat aware of his surroundings. For the next 10+1D20 minutes he
is affected as if by the disorder stupefaction. After that he is extremely tired and needs to go to sleep.

CRIMINAL PSYCHOSIS
Your character is totally convinced that all persons are disassociated from each other, that social
relations like love, empathy, friendship, and trust does not exist. In essence these are lies told kept for
social gain. Your character sees no wrong in stealing, molesting, murder, and other types socially
unacceptable behavior.

DEATH WISH
This psychosis is a more severe form of heroic idiocy (see Mental Disorders above). Your character has
total disregard for his own life and well being. You get DL +6 to all horror rolls. The problem is only
that your character seeks out danger and mortally dangerous situations whenever he has the chance. If
you do not want him to avoid such a situation even though it present itself to him, you have to roll an
attribute roll using your character's MEN. If the roll is successful you get your will. If not…

DEMENTIA
Your character's mental health is enfeebled. Recalculate your character's mental resilience using his
MEN -4 as basis.

DEPRESSION
Your character simply refuses to see any good in any situation. Everything is black to him. He has
entered a deep depression, and is keeping mostly to himself. All attribute rolls involving the
communications area of knowledge are at DL -4, and your character's well being can never exceed 0.

GOD COMPLEX
As if megalomania was not bad enough, this is an even more severe version of that disorder (see Mental
Disorders above). Your character is willing to even commit murder for his own personal gain. He is
consumed by his will to power, that all attribute rolls involving the communication area of knowledge
are at DL -4.

HATRED
Hatred is an even more severe form of intolerance (see Mental Disorders above). Like intolerance there
is a certain something that your character does not approve of. Whenever near by a hated person, you
have to make an attribute roll using your character's MEN to avoid attacking that person.

MANIC
Your character is simply incapable of sitting still. He is all over the place, to everyone's annoyance.
Nothing can get him down and nothing can really make him stop and think. He has too much energy, too
many things he just has to do, to bother with mundane things like rest and sleep. Your character's well
being may never sink below 0.
It is hard for your character to speak coherently, his mind is preoccupied with a zillion things at the
same time. Attribute rolls involving the communication area of knowledge are at DL -4. At the
Narrator's discretion this negative DL may be ignored for situations where is manic presence is positive.

MANIC DEPRESSIVE
This psychosis is a mix of the two psychosises depression and manic. At irregular intervals your
character goes from being manic to being depressive, and then after a while he goes back to being manic
again. How often these mood swings happen is up to the Narrator to determine. The cycles are rarely
fixed, they vary from time to time. It is very uncommon to experience a mood swing from one extreme
to the other and then back again within the space of a month. Your character is most probably at each
extreme of the psychosis a couple of months a time.
When manic, your character is prone to the rules of the manic psychosis above. When depressive, he
is prone to the rules for the depression psychosis above.

MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES
Unknown to himself, your character has multiple personalities. It is usually stressed situations and
traumas that provoke the change of personality. Whenever your fail an attribute roll involving the use of
MEN, you must immediately make a new attribute roll using MEN. If you succeed with the roll, nothing
happens. If you fail, your character changes personality.
The number of multiple personalities is really up to the Narrator to decide. Make a personality
description by going through step 5 of the character creation process for each of your character's
multiple personalities.

PARANOIA
Everyone's after your character. He cannot turn his back without someone scheming and plotting is
downfall and death. No one can be trusted. Least of all those who profess to be your character's friend.
He accuses everyone of wanting him dead. If someone points out that he is sick, your character's reply
is simply : just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not after me.

SEVERE PHOBIA
This is a more serious form of the mental disorder phobia (see above). Character's with a severe phobia
avoid the object of their fear at all cost. There is no need for an attribute roll, your character flees head
over heels if confronted with the object of his fear. If forced to face his fear, he immediately makes a
horror roll with horror level 20.

PERSONAL DELUSION
Your character believes he is someone else than he really is. The delusion is fairly serious as he really is
not the person he thinks he is. Examples of personal delusions include:
· the beggar king - your character is actually the Lord of Orschild. Lord Gideon is an imposter. That
your are a beggar and has always been is of no consequence.
· Marquis Hymeneus reincarnate - Marquis Hymeneus is really not dead. He has just been in hiding
for a very long time. Now your character, Marquis Hymeneus that is, has found an opportune
moment to re-appear and bring justice to world and raise the Iron Gate anew.

SCHIZOPHRENIA
A character afflicted with schizophrenia is subject to a split personality. This is not the same as having
multiple personalities. It's simply a question of there not being any consistency to the character's
behavior. Characters with schizophrenia must change all of their personal traits (step 5.3 of the
character generation process) when they fail an attribute roll using MEN.

Curing mental illnesses
Curing mental illnesses is not particularly advanced in Gemini. Mad people are usually confined to the
sanatoriums of monasteries where they are given what may be labeled as experimental treatment. If
treated at all, and not being burnt at the stake for being possessed by a demon. The monks' means of
treatment are at best outlandish, painful, usually pretty brutal, and often harmful to the patient. Death
or deterioration of the patient's mental health is not an uncommon outcome of the treatment received.
Treatment is almost without exception dealt in sanatoriums.

Shock treatment
This treatment is based upon delivering painful and not necessarily harmless shocks to the patient. The
shock is usually delivered using ice-cold water followed by the intense heat of red glowing iron. Usually
administered to revive patients from a catatonic state, this treatment has become more and more popular
to treat all kinds of mental disorders and psychoses.

To treat a patient with this method, recurring treatments are required. Every time the treatment is
delivered to your character, make an attribute roll using MEN. Make a note for each time the treatment
is successful. To cure a mental disorder, your character needs to undergo 5 successful treatments. To
cure a psychosis, your character needs to undergo 8 successful treatments.
Subtract 1 from the number of successful treatments every time you fail the attribute roll. The more
times the treatment fails, the harder it gets for your character to be cured.
Shock treatment may only be administered once a week.

Drugs
Drugs and herbs have been known to heal madness. Daring monks are testing out herbs on their mad
patients. Not at all that successful, the treatment has become fairly popular as it at least calms the
patient down.

A monk performing drug treatment has to possess the specialization herb lore the Knowledge Area of
Learning. Preparing the drug for treating mentally sick patients requires an attribute roll using his
specialization of herb lore. The success of the drug depends on the effect of the attribute roll connected
with the chemistry action.

The monk does not roll his herb lore roll until his patient downs the drug. At that stage the roll is
made to see how good the drug affects the patient. The effect of the monk's herb lore roll is the DL of
the patient's MEN roll. The result of the treatment depends on the patient's effect.
If the effect was lower than -20, something has gone terribly wrong and he gains a new psychosis. If
the effect is less than -10 but more than -20, the patient is scarred by the experience, and gains a mental
disorder. If the roll is failed, but the effect is more than -10, nothing happens. If the effect is equal to or
higher than 10, the drug has cured a mental disorder. If the effect is equal to or higher than 20 it has
cured a psychosis or a mental disorder (the Narrator's choice).

Mishaps
Things may go horribly wrong when trying to cure mental illnesses. All cures are strictly experimental.
If a '20' appears on any roll when curing a mental illness, something has gone wrong. The Narrator rolls
a D20 and confers with the table below.
D20 Effect
1-6 Disfigurement
7-12 Mental disorder
13-15 Psychosis
16-18 Poor health
19 Coma
20 Death

DISFIGUREMENT
The treatment has disfigured a part of your character's body. Roll on the close combat hit location table
to determine what body part. The nature of the disfigurement is up to the Narrator to decide based on
the treatment administered your character.
If your character receives a disfigurement to his face, subtract 2 from his CHR score. His CHR may
never drop below 1.

MENTAL DISORDER
The treatment has been so harsh that your character has attained a new mental disorder. It is up to the
Narrator to decide which disorder.

PSYCHOSIS
The treatment was so brutal that your character enters a psychosis. The Narrator decides which
psychosis your character gains.

POOR HEALTH
The treatment your character has undergone has broken his body to such an extent that it is impossible
to repair the damages. Subtract 3 from your character's CON score. If his CON drops below 1, your
character dies from the treatment.

COMA
Your character enters a deep coma due to unexplainable reasons. Th psychiatrist do not understand
anything. Every month you roll a D20. If the result is '1' your character wakes from the coma. If the
score is '20' your character dies while in coma. He remains in coma for all other die scores.

DEAD
Particular harsh treatment has killed your character.

SQUIGS
The Death Pit
The cathedral school and monastery of Neremeth was set ablaze during the Great Fire. Shortly after,
Marquis Lazarus commanded the roof across the monastery's old auditorium torn down, and the
circular auditorium converted to a death pit for gladiators and slaves to fight to the death.
The old monk cells in the basement level beneath the old auditorium, have been converted to prison
cells for slaves. The rest of the monastery's cells have been converted to chambers for the death pit's few
gladiators.

Once a month games are held in the death pit, massively attended by the city population, and every
fight is till the death.

The Sullied Pilgrims
Every year the number of dead pilgrims - killed as their ship capsized on the open sea, as their landing
boats were crushed against the steep cliffs that rise up from the ocean, or by other means - washed
ashore surmount the numbers that make it to the Black Cathedral. As such, this pilgrimage is only for
those of a strong faith.

Merodak's coastline is craggy and ridden by fierce storms. Still, large numbers of pilgrims venture
onto the seas on a pilgrimage to the Black Cathedral of Neremth. On the rocky shores of Merodak
numerous pilgrimages goes ashore, as the land routes are too dangerous for the Sullied Pilgrims. The
land routes are guarded by the Church's men.

The Crystal River
At the eastern borders of the bishopric Agash in Merodak flows Crystal River through the weather-torn
landscape. Its spring is in the Crystal Lake to the north, and the river flows straight into to the Bay of
Bures to the south. At winter both the river and the lake freezes, but not completely. As the climate is
too mild to make the freeze over both lake and river are filled with crystal-like shards of ice, making
them both extremely beautiful and even more deadly for anyone unfortunate to fall into them. Hence
their names.

The Red Harvest
Every years since the Iron Gate was opened, every year since Marquis Lazarus pledged allegiance to the
Darkness, parts of the bishopric Bolan's harvest has turned red. It is not a great part, in fact it usually is
only one field that gives the Red Harvest, yet there is always one field in the bishopric that carries this
affliction.

Some believes the affliction to be the One's curse, other sees it as a gift from the Darkness. The seed
of the Red Harvest is said to have miraculous powers.

The reavers of Moiree
Stretching from the Crystal Lake in the west to World's Edge looking over the Great Oceans in the east,
from the Bay of Howls in the north to the Bay of Bure in the south, the bishopric of Moiree is probably
the largest, yet least fertile of all Merodak’s bishoprics. Its coastline is part of the area called Stony
Shores. The unwelcome shores with their razor rocks and steep cliffs riddled with natural caverns
carved by the pounding oceans, have always been the home of uncountable smugglers. Moiree's reavers
and shipwreckers are numerous, Lazarus has no way nor wish of controlling them. Preying on the
unlucky whose ships had run aground, their business was good. The bishopric's reavers and
shipwreckers even set up fake lighthouses to lure the unwary aground.

The Valley of Death
As Lazarus commanded the tearing down of churches, monasteries, and chapels throughout Merodak,
persecutions swept the land. Lead by the Dark Priests and overzealous followers of Marquis Lazarus,
those who still retained their faith in the One were rounded up, persecuted, and killed.
The worst such persecution found place in the bishopric of Seam, where over a thousand men,
women, and children were killed, almost the entire town population. They were rounded up, herded to a
steep cliff looking over a valley where they were pushed into the certain deaths. For months the stench
hung over the valley, and it got its name: The Valley of Death, the valley floor still littered with the
polished, white bones of well over a thousand human beings.

Lazarus and Dantero
The history of Lazarus and Dantero starts prior to the quest for the twins. Dantero used to be Lazarus'
tutor at the Cathedral School of Ravarra. Lazarus, in his early youth a champion of the cause to reclaim
the original Church and do away with its worldly baggage, found Dantero to be reactionary and unduly
conservative. Unknown to Lazarus or anyone else, Dantero had spotted the seed of Darkness deep
within Lazarus' heart, and he saw Lazarus' reforms as the work of Darkness.

Dantero spun an intrigue to either have Lazarus thrown out of the Church or have his heart
completely purged of its stirring darkness. But Lazarus already had powerful friends, and Dantero's
plan backfired on him. In the end Lazarus had Dantero turned over to the Inquisition to undergo serious
exorcism.

And so Dantero came to lose his sight.

The Isle of Whights
Just off the coast of Awon lies the fabled Isle of Wights. It is said that the souls of dead men walk this
island, guarding the immense treasure buried there. The wights are forever bound to the island by strong
magic, and only those without fear will survive a trip to the island.

Ghost city of Lucer
In the rolling highlands of Narlan lies the half-deserted city of Lucer. It is the seat of the Dragvio
family, a noble family ridden by the plagues of insanity. The city has lain half-deserted since the current
Lord's grandfather died of the plague some 50 years ago. The mentally delusional Dragvio family, then
in possession of the bishopric's bishopric, had the city cleansed of those bearing the signs of the plague,
and those they believe were carrying the plague. Many fled from the Dragvio's slaughter, most never
returned.

The mummy guard
In his own deranged mind the insane and evil-minded Lord Vuc Dragvio still rules as splendid castle
defended by brave warriors. In reality his castle is crumbling and a tenfold parched and flaking mummy
warriors guard his castle. Killed and mummified by Vuc's mad grandfather to atone for not defending
him from the plague, they have guarded the castle ever since. In Vuc's eyes they are the most splendid
knights of the province, ready to sally through the gates, brave defenders of the Dragvio family.

Spectre Hills
The Merodak bishopric of Lucer has long been a gathering place for grave robbers and treasure hunters.
The rolling hills of Narlan, the Spectre Hills, are renowned for their many ancient burial mounds.
Locals whisper of ghost and specters haunting the mounds, but these warnings are overshadowed by the
immense wealth said to be found in there. Still - many never return from these expeditions into the hills,
never to be heard of again.

The quarries

Quarries of Merodak

The Black Choir
It is said that the Cathedral of Ravarra, heart of the Church, harbors a coven of Dark Priests. No one
have ever seen them, but rumors have it that hushed hymns to the Darkness echoes faintly in the
deserted Cathedral around midnight on every anniversary of the opening of the Iron Gate.
There have been efforts to track and capture the Dark Priests and the Black Choir, but they seem to
elude anyone who tries to track them down.

Witnesses say the chanting seems to stem from the galleries running across the cathedral mass hall,
but when checked up, the chanting can be heard from the other end of the Cathedral.
The Cleansing of Prijtina
One of the world's largest heretical persecutions were instigated when Inquisitor Lutritius overheard the
bailiff of Prijtina command his son to "drink his bloody milk". During the persecution, Prijtina turned
out to be a hornets' nest of hereticals, and over a hundred cultists were burnt at the stake. Lutritius was
the hero of his day.

In posterity, critical voices have been raised. There have been claims that Lutritius was overzealous
and that his discoveries really were more due to luck than anything else. Especially showing his track
record after the Cleansing of Prijtina. It turns out that Lutritius was never able to convict another
heretic for his entire life.

The Unmarked Grave
As dust settled after the Second Battle for the Iron Gate, one legends has it that Vaun Vauriche's most
trusted lieutenant, half dead from the wounds sustained in the battle, dragged the lifeless body of Vaun
across the mountains. On the third day, the lieutenant buried Vaun in an unmarked grave, at the feet of
the Northern Mountains. He then fell dead over the grave.

It is said that Vaun's ghost haunts the grave on every anniversary of the Second Battle where he was
slain. Those present by the grave on this anniversary are, according to the legend, allowed to share
Vaun's knowledge. But - the ghost only allows those of a truly dark heart is allowed to live afterward
having taken part of the knowledge.

Till this day, none have returned from their quest for the Unmarked Grave.

Cyrus' Hand
When Marquis Attamens threw Cyrus through the Iron Gate, some claim that Cyrus was still alive.
Stretching out a hand in a vain attempt to cling on the world from whence he came, the Iron Gate closed
clipping off Cyrus' right hand.

One thoughtless knight snapped up the hand to keep it as a trophy of the battle. To his astonishment,
the hand did not rot and its nails continued to grow. The unnamed knight soon learned that the hand was
alive, but by then it was too late. The hand choked him.

The current whereabouts of Cyrus's Hand, but it is said to have unmatched magical powers.

Guardians of Murgia
As the Iron Gate was opened, and the Darkness swept the land, travelers could tell that they had heard
screams of anguish and terror from the inside of Murgia's city walls. Murgia has been dead and deserted
since the Black Death, but it now seems that the dead seems to have risen to the call of the Darkness,
risen from their graves.

Terrified of the terrors and diseases that might escape from the sealed city, the devout templar
Mauritius traveled the world to raise a new order of Knights Templars, the Guardians of Murgia. Few
rose to the occasion.

Today, the Guardians of Murgia are a handful of impoverished templars garrisoned in the Towers of
Murgia, keeping the City of the Damned under close scrutiny. For now, because famine is threatening
the order's very existence.

The Rat-catcher of Catal
Ten years ago, Catal, a bustling trading town in the northern parts of Cergovia, rats plagued the town.
Rat-catchers were rounded up from across the province, but none managed to drive the rats from the
town's sewers. Then one, day the enigmatic rat-catcher Morgan appeared.

The townspeople were desperate, and offered to fulfill the rat-catcher's every wish if he drove the rats
from the city. They were not prepared for his price. As Morgan had driven the rats from the town
sewers, he named his price: the head of every man and woman of the Church on a platter.
Driven to the edge by fear of the rats, the townspeople rounded up all Church officials, beheaded
them, and handed Morgan their heads on a platter.

The next day, the Army of Darkness swarmed the town occupying it.

The Iron Hold
Sitting atop the peak above the Iron Gate, a massive fortress - the Iron Hold. It was raised by Cyrus
shortly after he had emerged from the far side of the Iron Gate. The Iron Hold was raised in two days
and three nights. On the third day after the Iron Gate was opened, the castle was completed.

From his throne inside the castle, Cyrus - the Dark Martyr - controls the Armies of Darkness, and
exercise his influence on the world. As master of the Iron Hold, Cyrus is also the Gatekeeper: the eternal
guardian of the Iron Gate. His is the power to control who goes through the Iron Gate to the far side of
the rift in the mountains, and his is the power to control who comes through the gate into our world.

The Black Hearts at Ravarra
To better understand demons and possession, the threat from within, some of the Church's men have
gathered and store the hearts of convicted heretics who has been proven possessed. After their
conviction, the heretics' heart has been cut out of their body while still alive. The beating heart was
placed in a glass jar with alcohol to preserve it better.

Two odd things have been shown with the hearts. First off all, almost every heretics' heart was all
black. There can be no other explanation to this than the influence of Darkness. Secondly, the hearts
never cease to beat. They keep on beating as if still alive.

And now, strange things are happening in the deep vaults where the Black Hearts are being kept.
Some claim it is the demons inside the hearts that have emerged, others say its the One's curse for not
destroying the hearts outright.

Pagan temples
During the Age of Darkness, mankind worshipped a myriad of pagan pantheons. Throughout the human
lands, temples were raised in honor of these pantheons' deities - for worship and reverence.
As the One's word spread across the land, there rose a need to raise new churches to worship Him.
The need was so pressing that many old temples were torn to the ground, and upon their foundations
churches for the One were raised. Many of today's most magnificent churches and cathedrals have been
raised upon an old pagan temple. Most bear witness of this.

Through secret entrances in the floors and the foundation walls, there are passages to underground
remains of the original temples. These remains are old and worn, but they display an immense richness
of adornments - massive mosaic walls and floors, all portraying passages from tales long lost.
Some claim that the various pantheons are aspects of the Darkness, but who is to tell?

The Demon Vault
Somewhere in the world, the demon prince Ashkthar is buried. Ashkthar was seriously wounded during
the Darkness' onslaught on the human lands, and magicians created a vault where he could rest to
replenish his strength. However, the Darkness was defeated and the magicians killed before Ashktar
could be released. The key to the vault lost.

No-one knows for sure where Ashktahr's vault is, and no-one knows where the key to it is to be
found either. Both heretics and men of the cloth are searching for the key and the vault. If Ashkthar is
released, it will be a serious blow to mankind.

Rumors have it that Ashkthar's vault was raised in one of the pagan temples upon which the first
churches were raised. Some even claim that these ruins are the foundations of one of the world's most
important cathedrals.

Castle Katrisborg
Atop the Manes Mountain's highest peak sits an ancient castle. It has been there since the dawn of time,
and it will stand till the world's final day. The castle was raised by Katris, a being said to have existed
before the One gave birth to the world

Katris' name is mentioned in chronicles from before the founding of the Church, and they speak of
him as an ancient being. Throughout the world's history, there are references to this Katris, and he is
said to have played an important role in making the Elf Queen withdraw here forces during the Elf War.
One legend says that Katris was the Demon Prince Ashkthar's jealous brother, and that it was he who
wounded Ashkthar in attempt for the Dark Inheritors' favors. The legend concludes that Katris was
disinherited by the Dark Inheritors and thrown into the world forever banished from the Lands of
Darkness.

The swamps of Monesora
In the Church's heart, in the province of Ravarra, Darkness has a stronghold. In the impenetrable
swamps of the river Monesora's delta, heretic cults are building their strength. The Church's heavily
armored knights are unable to penetrate the swamps to track the heretics down. Several efforts have
been made, but the knight templars refuse to fight without their stately armor - a veritable deathtrap in
the swamps.

Boniface Delvarra
In the cities, the threat of the Darkness is regarded as little more than propaganda by the Church. Most
believe there is a threat, but few realize how imminent it is. From this, a new breed of entertainment has
grown: the fright sights.

A fright sight is a stage play following a very strict form: the Darkness threatens the world, and only
the valiant clergyman can save us from the Darkness. However, both the Darkness' henchmen and the
clergyman are portrayed as comic characters.

The master of the fright sights is Boniface Delvarra, and he is cheered as a hero wherever he travels
in the world.

The Island of Cersei
In the city of Honum, in the province of Aretas there once lived a merchant who loved his wife higher
than life itself. When she was revealed to be the ring leader of a heretical coven, the merchant was
stricken with terror. To save his wife, the person he loved more than life itself, from certain death, he
broke into the city prison and freed her. Together the two of the left Honum in the midst of night, for the
deserted island of Cersei where they would spend the rest of their lives.

When they reached Cersei, the merchant's wife let the merchant disembark first. Then she left him.
The merchant's heart was broken, and it is said that he died sitting on the stone to which he had moored
the boat crying his heart out.

Beside the stone a tree rose, and no other such tree grows in the whole wide world. The red berries
that grow on this tree is supposed to purge a person's heart of all thoughts of deceit and treason.

The lighthouses of Mordinan
Mordinan is the world's northernmost province, bordering towards the Northern Mountains where the
Iron Gate lies, and the newly opened rift to the Land of Darkness resides. To ward the province against
the threat of the Darkness, its sovereign Avaran has had over two dozen lighthouses raised throughout
the country all the way into the mountains he has granted Salem and his kin.

The lighthouses are to be lit if the Army of Darkness marches down from the mountains towards
civilization. In that respect, Avaran's lighthouses are mankind's last frontier towards the onslaught of the
Darkness. To man the lighthouses, Avaran has founded an order of guardians: the Protectors of the
Light.
The standing stones
Scattered across the world are strange formations of standing stones. No-one knows for sure what these
formations are, but it is pretty obvious that they are remains of a civilization predating the Church.
Common belief is that the standing stones were used in the worship of pagan gods.

As many heretics believe the pagan gods to be mere aspects of the Darkness, they have taken to
worshipping the Darkness in among the standing stones. Most of the time, the worshippers prayers are
unheard. However, the stone formations seem to have a particular resonance for magic, something that
Dark Priests have seen to use to their own benefit.

Ravarra's cathedral library
The world's greatest collection of heretical scriptures are, paradoxically, found at the heart of the
Church, in the cathedral library of Ravarra. It was in this library that Cyrus first learnt of the Darkness,
and it was in this library that Lazarus met his fate in the tempting scriptures of the Darkness.
The part of the library containing the Darkness' scriptures is guarded by an order of warrior monks,
the Order of the Iron Quill, whose only task is to make sure that no-one unwanted get access to the
scriptures.

Galigee of Galatien
Although not the first scholar to launch such an idea, Galigee of Galatien was the first to publicly claim
that everyone harbored a demon inside, that the demon and the Darkness is only the dark parts of human
nature.

Already an old man, Galigee was forced by Church dignitaries to publicly denounce his theory of the
Darkness and demons, lest he be burnt at the stake. Although old, Galigee was fond of life. It is said
that as he stepped of the podium after having denounced his theory, the old man muttered into his beard:
"But I think I'm right anyway."

The Three
There are three cults of the Darkness dominating central Orschild. They are known in Merodak as the
Three - their respective names are the Key, the Sons, and the Crow. In a sense, they are unlike most
other cults in the respect that they are not based in any one particular place.

They Key is the foremost center of magic, and the place where all of the new dark priests in Orschild
and its neighboring provinces are sent to complete their training. The cult of the Sons is the Orschild
school of dark teachings, while the Crow supervises the growth of new cults in the province.

Bishop Ignation's book of spells
One of the world's most renowned spell books is Bishop Ignation's book of spells. It is a combination of
the bishop's own diary, recounting his fall to the Darkness, and a collection of all the spells he himself
collected from his church's library. These works were later lost in a fire at the bishop's house, so vividly
described in his book of spells, but later rediscovered and put to paper in his book.