ORIGINS IN DARKNESS
Before light touched the world, before the first mortal drew breath, primordial forces existed that would later become known as gods. The cosmos gave birth to many deities of darkness, each governing different aspects of shadow, night, death, and the unknown. Among these many dark entities was one whose essence formed from a particular aspect of darkness—the void between stars, the entropy at the edge of creation. This being was one of many dark gods, neither the first nor the most powerful. Those who later feared its power deliberately erased its true name, leaving only the whispered title: the Dark One.
While some dark deities represented the mystery of night, the peace of dreamless sleep, or the necessary end of life's cycle, the Dark One embodied the entropy and dissolution inherent in existence. Where many gods sought to build or maintain, the Dark One found purpose in the inevitable ending of all things. Where others celebrated life in its many forms, the Dark One found beauty in life's conclusion. This focus did not initially place it at odds with the cosmic order, for in the early days of existence, even forces of ending were necessary for the balance of creation. Many dark gods served the natural cycle—the Dark One was merely one voice in this divine chorus of shadow.
The early peoples of Uhl did not always revile the Dark One. Those first civilizations acknowledged it as a necessary counterbalance to light and life, honored in twilight rituals that recognized the importance of endings. Death, darkness, and decay were natural parts of existence, and the Dark One stood as a guardian of these transitions. Ancient temples bore symbols of both light and shadow, recognizing that neither could exist without the other.
THE CORRUPTION OF PURPOSE
As mortal civilizations grew more complex, so did their understanding of the cosmic forces. Once respected for its necessary role in the cycle of existence, people began to fear the Dark One. This fear stemmed not from the Dark One's original nature but from a profound transformation that occurred within the deity itself.
The change began subtly, a response to the growing preferential worship shown to the gods of light and creation. As people directed fewer prayers toward the shadows, the Dark One's essence shifted. What was once a natural force of ending and renewal became tinged with bitterness and resentment. The Dark One coveted the adoration shown to other deities, developing an unusual awareness of self among the primordial forces.
This awakening of ego led the Dark One to seek worship through fear rather than respect. Its interventions in the mortal world grew more malevolent, designed to remind mortals of darkness's power over their fragile lives. What began as demonstrations of might evolved into campaigns of terror, as the Dark One discovered that fear generated a form of worship more intoxicating than reverence.
The corruption accelerated. The Dark One fed on negative emotions, drawing strength from suffering and despair. This created a terrible cycle, as the deity inflicted greater horrors to sustain its growing hunger for these dark energies. Other gods watched with mounting concern as their once-equal counterpart transformed into something unrecognizable, a force that threatened the balance they had all worked to maintain.
It is crucial to understand that the Dark One did not become the embodiment of all evil, but rather a specific corrupted force. Many other malevolent entities and dark gods exist in the cosmos, each with their own domains and purposes. The Dark One represents a particular aspect of darkness—the corrupted shadow that consumes rather than complements, the void that seeks to devour rather than define boundaries. Other evil beings may serve different aspects of malevolence, from tyranny to disease to betrayal, but the Dark One's domain remained the corrupted aspect of endings and oblivion.
THE AGE OF SHADOW
The breaking point came during what scholars now call the Age of Shadow. The Dark One, now fully corrupted by bitterness and hunger, launched a campaign to dominate the world entirely. It sought to extinguish light itself, creating a realm of perpetual darkness where it would reign supreme.
The Dark One's first act was to seduce mortal followers with promises of power. These early cultists often felt marginalized or oppressed and were offered the chance to wield shadow against their perceived oppressors. The Dark One taught them forbidden magics, rituals that harnessed negative energies and emotions, transforming ordinary people into vessels of darkness.
As its cult grew, the Dark One's influence spread across the land like a plague. Entire regions fell under a supernatural darkness that no fire could penetrate. Creatures of shadow emerged from this darkness, hunting those who still clung to light. The very fabric of reality frayed as the Dark One's power grew unchecked, fed by the fear and despair of countless victims.
The other gods, previously hesitant to interfere with one of their own, finally recognized the threat the Dark One posed to the world's balance. They bestowed their blessings upon mortal champions, creating the Order of Warding, an organization of warriors and mages dedicated to combating the spreading darkness. These champions carried weapons infused with divine energy, capable of banishing shadow creatures and cutting through the Dark One's protective magic, while their mages developed specialized spells to counter shadow magic.
For generations, the war between shadow and light raged across the world. Civilizations rose and fell, their ruins testament to the destructive power unleashed by both sides. The Dark One, growing ever more powerful from the conflict itself, seemed unstoppable despite the valiant efforts of the Order of Warding.
THE FINAL BATTLE AND IMPRISONMENT
A group of talented mages within the Order of Warding turned the tide when they discovered the true nature of the Dark One's power. Studying ancient texts and forbidden lore uncovered a fundamental weakness in the deity's corrupted essence. The Dark One, in its transformation from natural force to a malevolent entity, had bound itself to specific, exploitable principles.
These mages combined their arcane knowledge with the divine power wielded by the knights of their order. Together, they devised a ritual of unprecedented scale that required tremendous sacrifice but offered the only hope of containing the Dark One's power.
The final confrontation occurred at a nexus of cosmic energies, where the boundary between the mortal realm and other dimensions was at its thinnest. The knights of the Order engaged the Dark One's cultists and shadow creatures in battle, creating a diversion while the mages prepared their ritual.
Sensing the threat, the Dark One manifested in the mortal realm for the first time, a colossal entity of pure darkness whose very presence drained light and hope from the world around it. The ensuing battle reshaped the landscape, creating chasms and mountains where once there had been plains.
The knights fought valiantly, many sacrificing themselves to protect the ritual circle where the mages worked their magic. As the spell reached its crescendo, the surviving knights drove the Dark One toward the center of the ritual. The mages, channeling their life force and the divine energy provided by the gods of light, created a prison between dimensions, a space that existed simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. With a last surge of power, they forced the Dark One into this prison and sealed it shut.
The cost was immense. Of the original hundred mages of the Order of Warding, only three survived, their bodies aged decades by the power they had channeled. The knights fared little better, with barely a dozen warriors remaining from their once-mighty ranks. The gods poured much of their power into the prison holding their corrupted counterpart, diminishing themselves in the process.
THE PRISON OF SHADOW
The prison that contains the Dark One defies conventional understanding of space and time. It exists in what some scholars call the Shadow Realm, though this is merely the closest mortal minds can come to comprehending its true nature. The prison is not a physical location reachable by conventional travel but rather a fold in reality, accessible only through specific mystical means.
Within this prison, the Dark One exists in a state of conscious torment, aware of the world beyond but unable to affect it directly. The boundaries of the prison allow only the faintest whispers of the Dark One's consciousness to reach the mortal realm, typically received by minds predisposed toward darkness.
These whispers are the primary way the Dark One continues to influence the world, seeding thoughts of malevolence and corruption in susceptible individuals. Over centuries, these whispers have gathered followers, creating cults like the Jakaree who dedicate themselves to freeing their imprisoned god.
THE LINGERING DARKNESS
Though imprisoned, the Dark One's influence has never truly left the world. The corruption it spread during the Age of Shadow left lasting scars on the fabric of reality. Certain places remain tainted by darkness, areas where shadow creatures still emerge during the darkest nights and where those who listen closely can hear sinister whispers.
Though driven underground by persecution, the Dark One's cultists have persisted throughout history. They pass down their dark knowledge through generations, always working toward the ultimate goal of freeing their god from its prison. The Jakaree represent one of the most organized and dangerous of these cults, their devotion to the Dark One unwavering despite the passage of time.
Though reduced from their former glory, the Order of Warding continues its vigilance as well. Working secretly, knights and mages, now known as imperators and arcanists, hunt down manifestations of the Dark One's influence, destroying artifacts corrupted by its power and disrupting cultist activities when discovered.
Over the centuries, much of the Order's knowledge disappeared. Fragments of what remains are scattered across distant libraries and hidden repositories, making it difficult to piece together the full story of the Dark One's imprisonment.