As a teacher of the college, I do not often stand here giving sermons on topics that may be better covered in a classroom. But it has recently come to my attention that some may not know of Danaan and Chadul; what they are, where they came from, and what they represent.
Deoch has strong ties to both of these entities so a better understanding of them can lead to a better understanding of our patron as well.
In this sermon, let us cover perhaps the simpler of the two… Darkness and it’s God, Chadul.
The fifth element, Darkness, was harnessed in the 1703rd year of Danaan. It was not the first encounter with Darkness that history had recorded but it was the point that brought devastating understanding to this element’s capabilities in the hands of mortals.
You see, Darkness is not a traditional element. Do not think of Darkness akin to the night. Think of it instead as the shadow that stalks in the night. Darkness is grown from the minds of all living beings; feeding itself on fear, hate, anger, and jealousy. In the earliest Aosda civilization and the golden age of Hy-Brasyl, Darkness existed only in Kadath because man was not conscious of such things and thus lived peacefully with one another and with nature as they knew no other way.
But even the peaceful and innocent can be foolish. Early mortals looked to Kadath and those that survived were often crazed; returning with poisoned minds. The desire to understand these corrupted led to an inevitable taint that slowly altered the minds of mortal men over many eras.
Just as people had discovered the ability to chain the basic elements nearly seven hundred years prior, shrewd magicians engaged in reprehensible study for centuries to understand this unique Darkness and how to command it.
Although this isn’t widely discussed, it has been proposed that the Darkness allowed itself to become chained for use in mortal magics as part of its desire to birth a corporeal form. Overconfident magicians were overwhelmed by the true nature of the Darkness. Dubhamid, the physical manifestation of the Darkness, devoured the magicians that called them forth along with thousands of inhabitants of many towns.
Perhaps it could have been contained there, but the foolish reign of kings eager for power continued to use the Darkness in their wars. The power was too tempting to resist.
The more souls they reaped, the more powerful the Darkness became. The Underworld, the land of Terror and Darkness, was manifested for the first time to store these souls. No longer did the dead drift off peacefully at death, now souls were claimed by the Dubhamid to languish in their Underworld, their suffering bringing even greater strength.
It was a combination of this suffering of souls in the Underworld and the terror of the living that finally gave birth to Chadul, the new god of this Underworld. The god of Darkness and Terror. Darkness spread with new found power and direction.
It was then, finally, that the people turned to the worship of an old power for salvation. The power of the Light. Which we will cover next double-moon.
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