Patterns of Darkness

The Faculty of Daemonology At the University of Teutonia
An Essay by Prof. S. von Groshnik, with updates from Professor Boris von Kaiserstein
Spring 1111 Edition

Daemons and Other Beings

The purpose of the study undertaken and detailed in this document is to create a framework through which the origins and evolutionary future of Daemon-Kind can be unlocked and better understood. Daemons are known to be beings of great power strongly linked to the prime elements, but unlike other beings from extra-planar origins they are incredibly varied (some would say chaotic) in their physiological make up and nature. Unlike the numerous earlier studies into the myths, origins and powers linked to such beings as Lycanthropes (werewolves, etc) and Vampires – a study into Daemons cannot be carried out in the same way. The reason for this is that by their very nature, Daemons are almost entirely individual. The rules for one Daemon’s evolution do not necessary, and in fact are very unlikely to, apply to all others.

While it is an established fact that in the cases of both Vampires and Werewolves – once a ‘host’ has been infected with the relevant ‘ailment’ (Lycanthropy/Vampirism) and has survived the drastic Pattern Evolution which accompanies it takes and linear and pre-determined shift over the next decade or so. Although it is not the purpose of this work to detail these defined pattern shifts – it has been established that at any point in the constantly evolving patterns of these beings (for example: four years after infection) there will be very little variety from one case to another created under the same conditions.

Unlike the aforementioned Lycanthropes and Vampires, Daemon evolution is not a linear path. Unlike Lycanthropes and Vampires, Daemons typically require more than time alone to evolve to a new state of being. Despite this, given the uniquely malleable nature of the Daemonic Pattern it is doubtless possible for a Daemon to evolve in such a way that its pattern could ‘feed’ off time alone and continue to evolve in that manner.

Although at face value (and even at pattern level) one Imp may seem almost indistinguishable from another (particularly Imps originating from the same source) – it is the forces that are applied to them after this stage which have a bearing on their future evolutionary state. As what is regarded in Modern Thought to be the most basic form of sentient Daemonic Life, the Imp is perhaps the biggest key in determining how the Daemon Pattern it hosts will evolve. At this stage the pattern is at its most malleable – almost unlimited in possibilities and totally open to whichever external forces will allow for evolutionary progress. It is the Imps’ baffling, non-linear Pattern-Form beyond all other things that has lead scholars to view the Daemonic Race as a whole to be of a chaotic nature. Although some Imps do doubtless draw on the forces of Chaos to allow the continuation of their evolution, they are just as likely to draw upon a raw Elemental Force or other source of power to aid them.

For an Imp to have got as far as it has in evolutionary terms is a great feat (few Daemon Patterns reach sentience by natural means). Although it is likewise possible for an Imp to evolve further, left to its own devices, such an advance through ambient forces would doubtless take centuries if not millennia in most circumstances. A more direct and pro-active route to trigger evolution beyond the state of ‘Imp’ is a spark of True Magic. This most often occurs at the hands of a highly evolved Daemon Prince or Lord, but could theoretically be similarly duplicated via ritual means by a group of powerful Daemonologists.

The Origins of the Daemonic Form part one: Before the Spark of Sentience

Contrary to common academic opinion the simplest form of Daemonic Life is not the Imp but is in fact a substance known as Gröt’sck (sometimes pronounced: Gro-sk). This normally grey-black substance varies substantially in form and consistency dependant on the environment it is found in and the forces, which are applied to it.

Despite its varied state, Gröt’sck is always found in abundance in every known realm inhabited by Daemonic Life – most commonly as a thin oil-like substance or as a fine dust covering the ground. These ‘common forms’ of Gröt’sck are by no means the only forms the substance can take. The substances Pattern-form is one of the most malleable and adaptable ever discovered, making the possible varieties of the substance potentially limitless.

Why then is Gröt'sck found only in areas that have been proven to be (or have once been) populated by Daemonic beings? Over the past three centuries Daemonologists have put their theories forward in order to provide answers to this question. Several have forwarded the theory that the substance is actually a by-product of the Daemon Race. Others have suggested that it is a substance in some way required by large populations of Daemons. One particularly interesting theory by the Murabian Daemonologist, Nussar Kassir, which has both been widely praised and rejected by scholars since it was written in 923, suggested that he had found evidence that Gröt'sck was as vital to Daemon-Kind as air or water is to ours. He suggested that the substance was infused into their very beings. Kassir wrote:

“… (Gröt'sck) is a part of their form. They need it and it is as much a part of them as water is to us. It is in the food they consume and it is in the air that they breathe. The substance is fused in their bones and it flows in their blood…”

It was this chain of thought above all others that lead me, along with a number of my colleagues at the Faculty of Daemonology at the University of Teutonia to set out to unlock the secrets of the Daemonic Pattern-Form. The first step on this journey of discovery was to take the reigns from Kassir and move onward…

Bale Stone (or ‘Bailast’)

On the plane of Erdreja (which is not known to have been a Daemonic Home Plane in standard recorded history) a not-surprisingly exceedingly rare substance known as Bailast or Bale Stone has been found and recorded in a number of Alchemical Tomes. An example of such a description can be found in the works of brothers Gustaf and Löthar Dàsslar, scribed in the year 1014:

“… a hugely rare find with a number of seemingly unique properties. The substance at first glance looks not unlike aged grey-black ivory, but on closer examination it is noticeably lighter and less solid than it initially appears. The Lighter grey out layers of the substance crumble away to reveal a darker and noticeably harder inner layer – much more akin to the consistency of volcanic rock…

… When separated from the darker core, the flaky outer layers seem to lose stability over two to three hours and break down into a fine dust if manipulated in any way…

… Over the next four weeks the dark core begins to dull and lighten as a new outer layer forms around it – it is our theory that the substance is actually somehow regenerating.”

In its day the sample recorded by the Dàsslar brothers was viewed as an interesting but largely futile find, as the substance had no known useful properties. The untimely and rather odd incident running up the eventual deaths of the Dàsslar brothers saw the Bale Stone sample along with the rest of the Brothers’ life’s-wok confiscated as evidence and locked in a vault in Prague, where it remained for the next 70 years.

The Bale Stone sample was released into the custody of the Teutonic Knights in 1084 for the second inquiry into the deaths of Gustaf and Löthar Dàsslar. Following the enquiry the sample was put up for auction before being purchased and added to the Von Geshalt Collection based in Northern Serbia.

The sample was purchased with the intention of studying the possible connections between Bale Stone and Necromancy yet despite extensive tests and studies in this area no plausible link has ever been documented.

The Von Geshalt Bale Stone sample was unearthed again in 1101 when it was transferred along with numerous other artefacts and samples to the newly opened University of Daemonology at Trieste under the supervision of Archchancellor Viktor von Geshalt. Rather than continue studies into the links between the Bale Stone and Necromancy, as the previous generations of academics had done, the Faculty instead began to examine its links to Daemonology.

After extensive research the Bale Stone sample was found to be far more pliable to the Dark Spirit Energies common to Daemonic Home Planes than anyone could have predicted. Under the supervision of the Faculty Chief Alchemist, Professor Kitty-bü von Geshalt, the Bale Stone was found to be much more than an apparently regenerating quasi-organic rock composite but a simple and highly adaptable pattern-form, making the ‘commonly’ known term “Bale Stone” highly inaccurate. The pattern structure of the substance was found to be a direct or devolved match for other samples held by the Faculty, each one seeming at face value to be totally unrelated to the last. The key to unlocking the common denominator, which linked each of the samples, was Dark Energy. The close proximity to Rasputin’s Portal on the Trieste Campus was invaluable to the research conducted by Kitty-bü. The outcome of the research was a major step to understanding the fundaments of the Dark Spirit Pattern Chain. In a paper penned by Kitty-bü in the winter of 1104, Bale Stone was described as follows:

“…in it’s weakest form (Bale Stone) is a highly adaptable structure which is actually self-aware at the most basic level. It’s structure actually changes (or mutates) over a time to adapt to its environment and external forces. The substance will do whatever it can to survive and where possible evolve. When brought into close proximity to direct force of Dark Energies it’s evolution is enhanced in speed and vigour at an exponential rate. Despite this, the changes that were found to occur seemed to be chaotic and unstable to the point of self-destruction. It is my theory that “Bale Stone” is not really a stone at all, but a form of the most basic building block of Daemonic Life.”

Later works in the first half of 1104 by Kitty-bü and myself found pattern-forms matching Bale Stone to be present in a number of samples, artefacts and individuals in the Faculty’s collection – ranging from the Prime Fetish to the Archchancellor himself. Of the 154 samples tested, the ten which proved to be positive links, including Bale Stone, are detailed in Appendix 2.

Based on these findings it became clear that Bale Stone (or Bailast) was not only present in all the samples and artefacts tested as a trace element but it was directly matched to the same pattern chain. This supported the theory that Bale Stone is a form of Gröt'sck, evolved into a stone-like structure by the ambient forces available to it in it’s environment (Light, heat, moisture, wind and so on). As no sizable source of Bale Stone has ever been known to be unearthed on Erdreja, it is likely that the small handful of samples that have found their way into the hands of scholars have originated from extra-planar sources or perhaps from before (or during) the last Cataclysm. Neither theory has been proved or disproved due to lack of evidence. I myself believe that both theories are entirely possible and even likely. After all it is well documented that Daemonic beings have walked the lands of Erdreja in large numbers before the Cataclysm. Whether these beings were indigenous of Erdreja is not known – nor does it really matter within the confines of this study.

The unique adaptability of the Daemonic Pattern makes settling in radically different environments easy for them. Daemons are known to travel from plane to plane – in many cases where one is a totally different environment to the next. Daemons are even found travelling in the icy blackness of The Void. In truth, very little is known about the Daemonic abilities to Plane Shift or Void Walk – only that for those who have evolved to a point at which these feats are possible, to do so is a simple, innate act.

The equally rare number of Gröt'sck samples which are known to have originated from specified sources of Daemonic activity on Erdreja have never been known to have appeared in a form close to Bale Stone. In most cases the Gröt'sck samples have appeared as the thin, oily or fine dust-like substances, normally documented under these terms. In such cases the substance is, at pattern level, totally inert and incapable of evolution without vast amounts of magical energy. The most likely reasons for this is that both the liquid and dust versions of the ‘substance’ are bi-products of Daemonic life. Obviously, the more Daemons inhabiting a given area, the more Gröt'sck is produced. The exact nature of the ‘Base-Gröt'sck produced depends on the external environment and just as importantly on the evolved nature of the Daemon(s) who produced it.

Numerous tests conducted by Sages and scholars over the past fifty years have shown that Base-Gröt'sck is completely inert. What we now see as a state of ‘Stable Devolved Form’ at the most basic level possible. The Pattern-Form has been almost entirely broken down, as the Daemon who excreted it has absorbed all the active energies within, no doubt to enable its continued evolution.

Despite its rather vile appearance, Base-Gröt'sck is actually completely harmless. It has no aroma, no taste and almost no substance if touched. However, it does still contain the very faintest traces of its Daemonic origins and, provided enough of the substance was present and an appropriate energy source was readily available to feed it, the substance would over time feed upon itself and evolve to a new level of complexity. This is also true for Bale Stone.

A bold and much contested statement it may be, but consider that Bale Stone is actually a form of largely non-sentient daemonic life evolved from Base-Gröt'sck by the forces common to the standard environment of this plane. The substance has actually evolved a long way to reach this point, most likely suggesting the influence of active external forces (other than time).

The Von Geshalt Bale Stone sample proved to be stable and inert due to a lack of energy on which to feed and therefore evolve, yet at pattern-level was neither strictly alive nor dead. As the tests we performed proved, the material was stable in a state of suspended-evolution whilst it was denied suitable energy on which to feed.

In a state as devolved as Bale Stone, Gröt'sck proved to be largely incapable of reactive (passive) evolution. That is not to say that given enough of the substance and enough time that it would not eventually evolve into a truly sentient state of being over several centuries or millennia, or that given appropriate circumstances, an even shorter period of time. After all, the Pattern-Form of Bale Stone is complex enough to suggest that it is not far from the spark of sentience and is even self-aware at a very basic level.

Bale Stone is evolved into a defensive form based on the active forces and threats affecting it in Erdreja. As a stone-like form it is largely immune to the various forces of nature, which could damage other less hardy forms. It can shrug off storm winds, fire, water and even acid has little effect upon it. By its very nature, it is an enigma and as such forces are drawn to it through the numerous scholars and Sages with thirsts for power and knowledge. How long would it be before the ‘strange’, rare substance would be subjected to the magical forces it requires in the name of the progression of knowledge? And if this is true, have we not all been out-witted by the very simplest of Daemons, barely self-aware and not even capable of conventional thought?

Perhaps the above comment is too dramatic. After all, has it actually been proven in any way, shape or form that a Pattern-Form as simple and devolved as Bale Stone could really achieve the Spark of Sentience and become self aware? Can the likes of Imps actually be ‘created’ from rock like the Homunculi of legend?

The Origins of the Daemonic Form part two: Examining the Mazarac Quesep document

There are in fact records of Imps evolving from Bale Stone (or even more basic Gröt'sck-based substances) over time on planes inhabited by Daemon-life. Until this most recent study these texts were largely discarded as fakes and wild theories by most scholars. The most striking text pointing to this field of thought is without a doubt the Mazarac Quesep Document. The document was recovered in 842 from a shipwreck off the coast of the landmass now known as Mauritania – and is now a prized exhibit in the Library of the Faculty of Daemonology of the University of Teutonia. A translation of this document is provided in Appendix 3.

The document describes a world on which Daemonic-Life was once a dominant race (likely indigenous to the plane), but has been wiped out by a brutal act of genocide a number of centuries before the text was written. It seems clear that the Daemons (described as “The Dark Brood” of “Dark Fiends”) were completely obliterated and the presumably mortal populous seems utterly convinced that the race their ancestors destroyed would never be seen again. The text goes on to describe the brave and largely futile attempts made by an unnamed Prophet to persuade the Lord Quesep of Ap’tar to ready his forces for a massive resurgence of the Daemons from the remains of their ancient fallen. A process that shows a vivid description of fully evolved Daemons rising from the scattered piles of Gröt'sck, having re-formed over the centuries.

“…they are rising once again with bodies newly forged. They rise stronger than ever from the blackened bones of their fathers your ancestors ground into those desert sands and they rise from the dark blood of their fathers, your ancestors once made to flow in steams in the swamps. They are rising and they are coming for you…”

The text, which is thought to date back to 600 or before has been a major headache for scholars for centuries since it was recovered in 842 and translated by the great Linguist Matiracles in 862. Many have concluded that the texts had been Matiracles, who was well known for his great literary pranks, mistranslating, or even more likely embellishing, the work during its transfer to common script. During his lifetime Matiracles repeatedly denied that his translation of the text was a prank of any sort and begged the established scholars of the time to take it seriously. Despite his pleas, most scholars dismissed the document and further refused to acknowledge and future works of the Linguist, effectively ending his career.

In a recent re-examination of the Matiracles Translation of the Mazarac Quesep document at the Library of Daemonology in Trieste, we have established that the text is very likely not a fake at all. Not only does it fit nicely into the groundbreaking evolutionary theories put forward in this work, but it also contains a number of obscure, but extremely significant, references that Matiracles could never have ‘invented’. The biggest of the ‘clues’ to the authenticity of the document are the names ‘Mazariel’ and ‘Soggretharr’.

“…The old Lords Mazariel and Soggretharr have been reborn. Their bodies are newly forged but their minds remember…”

Any references to the Daemon Princes Mazariel and Soggretharr in the time of Matiracles are very unlikely to have been found outside of a small number of obscure scripts. Not one of those texts which are now known to have existed at that time are likely to have been read by Matiracles, and none of these scripts linked the Daemon Princes together in any way.

Both Mazariel and Soggretharr are now known to be extremely powerful Daemon Princes, well documented in modern Tomes of Daemonology. In addition to this the fact that they are mentioned together adds another level of validity of the text. Mazariel and Soggretharr are continually referenced to be Pact Brothers, a fact learned over two hundred years after the death of Matiracles, through a physical discourse with the Daemon Gornag’gash conducted by a group of Daemonologists in Thebes. To date no text scribed before the summoning of Gornag’gash in 1099 is known to detail any sort of link between the Daemon Lords Mazariel and Soggretharr. With that in mind can the text really be ignored as a hoax? And if not, can the other implications detailed in the text be overlooked?

Etched on the Fabric of Reality

If we were to even pretend that the Mazarac Quesep Document was to be taken seriously for one moment, the one implication that is perhaps even more interesting than daemons rising from the scattered remains of their ancestors is the implication that they are reborn with memory.

“…their bodies are newly forged but their minds remember…”

This statement moves the examination of the Daemonic-Form into a whole new direction. It implies that not only can Daemonic creatures rise like proverbial phoenixes from the ashes of their long-dead ancestors, but the Daemons who are formed are actually not new beings at all, but reborn versions of their old selves. The implications are that the physical bodies may well be quite different, but the Signature-Pattern containing the essence of the Daemon will be reformed, allowing the return of personality and memories. How the Signature-Pattern can be carried when the Daemon’s body is utterly destroyed is looked at in more detail in the ‘Daemonic Life Cycle’ section of the ‘Daemonic Manifestation’ paper. Matiracles is not the only scholar who appears to have stumbled on the myth of the eternal Daemon Essence. In the year 943 the great Daemonologist Nussar Kassir described the Daemon Race as:

“…Beings of great power and monstrous vitality, whose very names are etched on the Fabric of Eternity…”

It is not known exactly what this quote in his Journal was in reference to. It does however seem that we are walking the same path of inquiry and reaching the same conclusions that Kassir reached over 100 years ago.

The Spark of Sentience: Evolving the Imp

To continue we must now go beyond the Spark of Sentience to the ‘intelligent’ forms of Daemonic life. Once there we must start at the simplest of these forms, Daemonic life at arguably the most versatile of its phases: the Imp.

Amongst the ‘categorised’ forms of the Daemonic pattern the most widely known is without a doubt the Imp. The Imp, as the simplest and most widely encountered Daemonic form makes up the image most people hold in their minds when they picture a typical “Daemon”. Tests conducted by the Faculty of Daemonology in the autumn of 1103 proved this fact. The tests demonstrated that even if an individual with no training Daemonology and who had never actually seen a Daemon with their own eyes was asked to picture what they thought a Daemon Prince or Lord would look like they would almost always produce an image based on the form of an ‘enhanced’ Imp.

The image painted in common thought of a Daemon Lord or Prince would be presumed to be a typical Imp Form (two arms, two legs, maybe a tail and a head with two small horns) – but made bigger, more ugly and more grandiose. Examples we saw were typically larger in mass (typically at least twice the size of a fully-grown man) and they had extra features (arms, heads, horns, teeth). In addition to this the Lord / Prince would almost always be male, dressed in finery (normally grand armour) and wielding any number of exotic weapons. The numbers of variations on the theme were proved to be virtually unlimited. The theme itself however proved to be unwavering if not utterly solid. Every person who took part in the study admitted that they had never seen a Daemon Prince or Lord, nor knew of anyone who had. Yet more than not claimed to be confident to bet that their calculated vision of what one would look like would be fairly accurate.

The results proved that the image of the typical Imp was as in-ground into the cold stone of history and therefore the minds of the people of Erdreja, as it was on many other worlds. If a person has not actually seen an Imp, they most likely have met someone who has or failing that they have seen a picture of one or have heard descriptions of them in tales told about them and their masters.

In all known Daemonic Societies, whether it is a Chaotic Horde Despot or an Ordered Hive Structure, the humble Imps form the stable base by acting in the vital roles of rank and file troopers and messengers. Although in every case the Imp is at the bottom of the racial pecking order, the Imp is universally viewed as a necessity. Imps make up the War bands of the Battle Princes, the Servants and Messengers of the Daemonic Sages and Viziers. The Great Menix Hive Lords Mazkarviall and Nograss’throgoth hold the number of Imps in their Hives as the very highest form of personal status.

Largely due to their ‘simple’ structure at Pattern level the physical evolution of the Imp is as strongly linked to the will of the Master / Creator as their own individual nature. It is for this reason that the vast majority of Imps tend to evolve towards the Turroth Phylum, being in the War band of a Daemon Prince. For more information on the choices available to an Imp, read Archchancellor von Geshalt’s paper on ‘Daemonic Classification’.

 

Naming your Imp

True names are very important for Daemonic Patterns, for it looks as though mastery of a True Name gives a Daemon more power. It also grants power to those that know their True Names. They are very important to Imps, as they require a grounding for evolving into powerful Daemons.

However, Daemon Princes normally have ways to grant Daemonic True Names that gives them more control over the Imp but will ultimately grant the Imp more power as a Daemon once it has evolved. Daemonologists should take a different approach, which is to allow the Imp to choose it’s own name, which it tells to you in return for a powerful title.

There follows a list of suitable titles to grant your Imps. Take one word at random from each of the different sections and combine in that order. This will give your Imp the feeling of importance.

If you have multiple Imps, and have to split them up, it is good to form a division between the two groups. Colours have proved to be good way to form groups of Imps, as long as they sound suitably macho – red, black, gold, scarlet and the like being the most popular. The likes of yellow, blue, brown, grey and so on really don’t have the same impact.

Military ranks are also proven to be a hit when organising your Imps and preparing them for evolution. We also know of one Imp brood that takes on the names of powerful warriors, in the hope that they will evolve to be as powerful. One of the Imps has named himself Satuun.

Section 1: Level of Importance

This generally has no relevance to how you view them, but they will argue for hours amongst themselves that one Imps title makes them more important than the others.

Extreme	Supreme	Overt	Reactive
Black	Proactive	Constant	Chief
Interior	Red	Exterior	Grand
Covert	Gold	Scarlet	Blood

 

Section 2: Purpose

This gives the Imp some idea of what its main function will be under your leadership. Long, important sounding names appeal to Imps and they will repeat it often, entering unwillingly into an evolutionary cycle that will bend them to your will.

Defence	Retaliation	Watch	Strike	Reactive
Suppression	Attack	Breach	War	Grand
Battle	Opressive	Skirmish	Custodial	Support

 

Section 3: Role

And finally a fitting title for the role of minion:

Controller	Secretary	Engineer	Councillor	Co-Ordinator
Lieutennant	Commander	Minister	Leader	Sergeant
Supervisor	General	Seneshal	Manager	Captain

Some examples are:

Proactive Defence Engineer,
Constant Surveillance Minister,
Supreme Attack General and
Black Retaliation Co-ordinator

You will find it easy to give an Imp a task to do if you tell the Imp it is part of the duties that go with their impressive titles. If you are interested in leading your own Daemonic Horde, read my paper on ‘Imp Care’ published by the Library of Daemonology at the Trieste Campus of the University of Teutonia.

Suggested Further Reading:
"Daemonic Classification" by Archchancellor V. von Geshalt;
“Discourse on Daemonology” by Prof. D. von Trügelhof;
“Daemonic Manifestation” by Archchancellor V. von Geshalt;
“Patterns of Darkness Appendices” by Prof. S. von Groshnik;
“The Art of Channelling" by F. Karrash-Morr;