BESTIARY/DARKNESS INFORMATION
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Just a Note:
It was 1918 when it happened. Oh, some people will tell you it’s too hard to place a date on it, but I know. The monsters showed up the night after it happened; the Core Meltdown. Something within the city trapped countless demons, beasts, and creatures within its night. The history has never been completely told before, or just isn't all that clear. One thing is for sure, the night brings what we locals have simply called "The Darkness." Creatures, beasts and nightmares all come out as the sun goes down, sirens alerting those who live here to get inside and stay safe.
This page gives you a very brief run down of some of the "Big Ickies" you might find in the long and cold nights here. I know I haven’t got even a tenth of what is out there listed on this page, but at least it’s a start. A heads-up, if you will.
Forgive my drawings. They are crude, but they get the point across. I never claimed to be an artist. If you have a moment and want to send me a line so I can update the list, it could be helpful to all. Just text or email the web at the contact listing at the bottom.
On that note...good luck out there.
~Darwin
The Origin of Darkness and The Sirens Seeping Darkness Darkness Creatures Darkness Proofing Water Problems: What’s that Smell? Light of the Night: Stars, Moon and Weather: Where Is Everyone?: Driving In The Dark & Cab Services: Fighting the Darkness; Weapons and Tools Exorcising or Eating the Darkness: Preserving Things: Scams: Death at Night: Safe Places: When Morning Comes: The Guide
The Origin of Darkness and The Sirens:
No one is positive what exactly these creatures are or precisely where they came from. I believe they are a product of the Core Meltdown back in 1918, which ripped the island of all living things; human, animal and plant alike. If you study the darkness for as long as I have you will notice a lot of qualities to each creature that can be pieced together with living organisms you see today. Human parts crossed with plants or dogs, fish and fowl. Some seem to have adopted things they find around them and others just appear to be mutated humans. One thing they all share in common is a pure wild rage, anger or a feel of being tortured each night; like souls in a constant state of pain trapped in some limbo or purgatory.
The early founders of SERO were the first to seriously look into what the Darkness is and how to deal with it. Though they learned how to Darkness Proof (it was called Nightmare Proofing back then) almost as soon as they settled on the island again, it wasn't until 1932 that they discovered that killing a creature at night didn't mean destroying it forever. In the 1930's, Eberhardt and Orberst spearheaded all research on the Darkness, developing ways to capture the darkness for the night, study it and write down every detail they could possibly discover. SERO Laboratories now hold much of this information in their data banks.
June 23, 1919: The siren system was put into place, going off thirty minutes before sunset. They were originally air raid sirens, posted on the tops of the tallest buildings that were closest to the shore lines. The original siren blasted for only ten seconds, warning people that they had thirty minutes to get into shelters. The island began to be called Siren's Port because of this.
For years they kept to the original warning system giving people a thirty minute warning at night only. It wasn't until later years that the system was completely overhauled to work better. By 1964, everything was changed and updated. Every tall building in the city is now outfitted with a siren horn fixed to the top of it, pointing down. The entire system is networked to the government building, where an office is in charge of keeping the siren on time and in working order. They say there is a back up generator for the sirens, so even if there is a complete black out, the siren warning will still go off.
Currently, the sirens go off three times in 24 hours. One short blast of sound just ten minutes before the sunset will bleat from the horns; a simple reminder that it will be dark soon. The second is timed almost perfectly; thirty seconds before sunset the sirens will go off and the low wailing lasts for a full eleven minutes. It is a haunting hallow sound that fills the air all across the city, loudly enough to be heard inside of homes as well. Eleven minutes is a very long time to deal with the sound, and some people find the sirens just as frightening as the Darkness itself. The reason for the eleven minute siren is to alert the citizens when the Seeping Darkness has come to a stop. We'll get to that in a moment. The last alert comes about a minute after the Darkness as departed in the morning. This siren only lasts for about thirty seconds.
The Seeping Darkness:
There are not only creatures of the night to deal with, but also the changing world around us. When the sun has fallen and night comes out, the world changes. This change lasts for a good ten to fifteen minutes while the world outside melts down into something less desirable. The city is dirty in places, sure, but at night the Seeping Darkness crawls over every building, every car, every plant and tree and fire hydrant or anything left outside. It's like watching someone spill molasses over a building, slow and creeping, spreading out over a freshly painted building and turning it to ruin, or creeping and cracking the sidewalk before your eyes.
The Seeping Darkness is rust and blood and dirt and grime. It is cracks in stable buildings or paint, breaks in the sidewalks and streets. It can take a perfect and new stop sign post and have it misshapen and bent by the end of the transformation. Unprotected cars will come out with flat tires, broken windshields, gnarled frame work and rusty fenders with a fresh paint job blowing away in the night. The Seeping Darkness will spread across the island city until it covers every unprotected surface that it can manage. What won’t it touch? Moving objects, living objects that don't stand still long enough, or simply darkness proofed places that the seep can't reach.
The Seep, as I like to call it, will stop spreading once it has covered everything. This has been clocked at about nine and a half to ten minutes to cover the entire city and island. It doesn't seem to start in any one location and work it's way out, but starts everywhere and slowly covers everything. After it has covered everything it seems to stop spreading, so closed and protected buildings can stay clean inside, if Darkness Proofed properly. This however doesn't mean that it can't continue to seep inside. If you open a door or window after the seep has stopped, not only will creatures find their way in, but the seeping darkness will very slowly start to come inside. It can take up to an hour, after siren, for it to take over the inside of a home. DO NOT leave your homes open to this for very long. It is dangerous and dumb.
A word of warning: The Seeping Darkness is just as deadly as any creature can be. I've seen people lying in alleyways, sleeping and oblivious to the Siren's call, simply overtaken by seeping darkness and devoured. If you are caught outside at the moment of darkness' fall: Keep Moving. Don't allow it to crawl over you. Jump to a place that has already been taken over by the change. If you happen to be out in the those few Limbo-like minutes, just keep moving.
The Darkness Creatures:
The creatures themselves can be a handful. Some display forms of wild intelligence, while others come across as mildly annoying pests. There are even a few that seem rather harmless and tame, though even they can be deadly. There is a countless number of creatures out there with a countless number of strange powers and status effects. I truly believe I could never list the entirety of the Darkness in a simple guide like this. To be assured, this guide doesn't even cover a tenth of what is out there.
Teeth, claws, wings, feathers, slime, fur, multiple eyes or no eyes, four legs, two, twelve, you name it, the creatures of the night are a hodgepodge of random yet terrifying-looking beings. Some creatures will bite, claw or even bore into your body to nest while others will simply rip your head off your neck. Some will make you more appealing to others. Some will give you problems, I like to call them “status effects”, like in video games. You might get sick, or hallucinate, or go blind for a few days. You could lose your powers all together, or temporarily at least. There is any number of reasons to stay out of these creatures ways. Playing with them is not the best or brightest of ideas.
The list of creatures that follows this guide has been compiled with the help of others for the past few years. It's fairly new and very much in the works, but it gives you a good idea of those creatures we see most. These creatures live in EVERYTHING. Sewers, streets, alley ways, broken cars, broken buildings, trash cans, the lake, the ocean waters around the island, the plant life, lands and unprotected caves. If it hasn't been sealed off, nor it is free game for creatures.
Darkness Proofing:
So what is Darkness Proofing? It's just that; you are making a space that the darkness and the seep can't penetrate. The easiest example would be your home. Airtight seals on your windows, ventilation systems, and outside doors so that the Seeping Darkness can't crawl its way in. Make sure every crack in your home is sealed and well taken care of. If the seeping Darkness can find a way in, so can the creatures. Once it gets in, it can't be rid of until the morning, though it can be stopped from spreading if caught fast enough. If you find it seeping in under a window or a crack, seal it off as fast as you can. You may be faced with a crumbling bloody wall for the evening, but it will go away by morning.
Putting bars on your windows and locks on your doors isn't only a good idea for keeping robbers out, but a good idea if you live in an area with angrier creatures and less protection. Some monsters that seem to show a few more signs of intelligence can try to break in your windows or bust down your doors. Adding some form of stronger support is always a good idea. SERO, years ago, invented a stronger glass that can be purchased for a reasonable price; this glass is proven to withstand strong attacks by creatures. It can be found at your local hardware store under the name of “Sansio Glass”, named after the original developer.
Alternatively, you can call CeeRow Proofing Offices for estimates on darkness proofing and have a professional team come out and install it. This company is an offshoot of SERO, and under their payroll, but so far has had unbiased treatment toward all clients. Because of the constant threat of the Darkness, CeeRow Proofing is actually very affordable and reliable.
Please Take Note: Once the Seeping Darkness gets inside of your home, no matter if you close it off right after, it is now at least partially compromised and that much easier for creatures to break into. If you are not prepared to deal with these issues all night, then you should find a new place to hide for the time being. Because of this, it is imperative that you have all the extra precautions of protection for the night. Darkness Proofing is a good investment.
Night businesses like clubs, hotels and other entertainment venues that stay open during the night generally have extremely strong darkness proofing done to them. You may notice that some businesses have a double set of doors leading to them. This is for everyone’s safety. When the Darkness has taken over for the night, clubs, bars and other locations will have an entrance room or thruway. The outer doors are strong to withstand large creatures, but easy enough to open so guards can let a person in. Once inside, these outer doors shut first before the inner ones allow anyone inside. This is to keep the creatures as well as the seeping darkness out. Other safety measures like extra thick windowpanes, black-out shades, breach alarms, stored water tanks, and trained guards are also kept in good working order. A good business has to pass a health inspection as well as a Darkness inspection. Some say the Darkness inspection building codes are actually far stricter.
Water Problems:
You might notice that the water supply in your home is a mess at night. Your home might be sealed, but the pipes underground aren't always so lucky. The night rusts the pipes, decaying them in some places nightly. When you run your tap and the water has to work through these broken down systems, it will run muddy, rusty and gross water into your home. For the most part you are safe from the darkness to run this water into your home, but I wouldn't drink it if I were you. The water that comes to your home, for the most part, is safe to drink by day. The pipes are fine and supply processed water form Siren Water Works (in most cases). It's only the night time you should worry about. After morning siren, run all your taps for a minute, and the reside should run clear.
Locals have become very good at storing water within their homes. Jugs of water, water bottles, or filtered pitchers in the refrigerator will support a person through the night with ease. Showers and baths should be taken during the daytime hours in order to actually get clean. For first aid reasons, try to keep large jugs of water stashed away to help clean wounds up, but never treat wounds from the nighttime tap water for risk of furthering infection.
There is a very slight chance that some form of water creature or oozing monster might get in through the drains and water pipes. Because of this concern, a lot of people keep stoppers in their sinks and tubs. Flushing a toilet maybe be a fast way to suck out a pipe creature, but you will most definitely receive dirty water on the refill.
Clubs, hotels, and other places of late night entertainment have found ways of storing large tanks of water for their place of work. Fresh purified water for the use of cooking, drinks and cleaning can be done safely. Large tankers for water can not only be highly costly, but can come with lots of problems. Some apartment complexes in the richer districts use these tanks for tenets, but the price to live there is always much higher and the chance of clean water running out is always a concern.
In short: Keep water on hand and ready for the night. Don't turn on taps and try to plug your drains in case something decides to sneak its way in.
What’s that Smell?
Rot. Decay. Blood. Dirt. Slime. Shit. Urine. Fire. Burnt remains of buildings or charred streets. The smell of fresh burning flesh. Tar. Acid and chemical burning. Gas; in some cases it’s more toxic when you can’t smell them. The night brings all forms of foul smells that could be listed, some of them not so bad as the others, while some could very nearly knock you out just by catching a sniff. I don’t envy those with a stronger sniffer than others. You poor people have to struggle a lot at night.
There is no way to escape the smells of the night when you are out in it. Sometimes, if you are lucky, it wont be so bad. A smell of stagnant water and the wet rotten decay of wood while you’re out in the seventh sector, or around the lakes. Muddy, swampy smells in areas that just aren’t that wet. I don’t envy those of the Sanguinarian Society either, for the smell of blood generally comes back each night, sometimes weaker then the night before but there is always blood spilt at night, monster or human. The water by the shores and docks always smell of rotting fish or chummed waters. Streets of the city are a riot of different smells, depending on what has come through.
If you stay out in the darkness for even the shortest of moments, you will doubtlessly come away from it with some penetrating smell stuck to your skin and clothing, like a smoker with a bad habit of tucking the butts in their coat pockets to throw away later; lingering and strong. It’s best just to stay inside as safe as you can, if you have trouble with it. A properly safe guarded home can keep out the smells of the night, for the most part; this isn’t to say every home out there is safe from it. The smells of the night are strong, like the neighbor’s dinner drifting in on the wind, the dark smells of the night will find a way in as well.
Light of the Night: Stars, Moon and Weather:
There is very little light out at night. The stars seems to all disappear through the thick dark covering of nightmares that come with the Darkness. It’s very rare to actually see the night sky properly. The Darkness seems to cloud the sky with angry looking clouds, or simply a reddish film of smog that blurs out the light. The moon, if it can be seen, always has a reddish-orange cast to it. Children born to this city have almost never seen a full white moon. Only on rare occasion will it appear clear in the sky.
The day may seem clear and the sunset may seem brilliant, but in those early ten minutes as the Darkness covers the city in muck, the sky clouds over and gets hazy. The weather of the night always gets much colder then it was in the day.
With the moon and stars being very nearly blanketed at night, it makes it extremely dark out. Street lights and businesses are sometimes the only light source that can be found and even then, if the darkness has rot away the wiring or if a light attracts a rather cranky creature, that too could be extinguished. Because of this, it is smart to carry your own form of light, though be careful at what you shine it at. Sometimes light will attract a creature faster then you expect. It is smart to carry a light. It is wise to not go out in the night at all.
Another strange note about the moon and the Darkness. It seems that the moon has some pull or calming effect over the creatures of the night. As seen with Super Moons or very special and very bright moons the creatures of the darkness seem to be more docile and less aggravated. One nights of full moons this too has been noticed, though not as drastically. The creatures are less aggravated and less likely to attack as they would be on nights with little to no moon. I have not been able to figure out a reason to this. More research is clearly in order.
Where Is Everyone?:
The city looks almost empty at night for a good reason. Even those who can handle a good fight don't bother going out at night. Locals around here are smart; they stay in where they are protected. Oh, you'll have a few adventurous people in heels and suits running for a club a few minutes before the night falls, or some punk kids driving just a bit too fast to their local dive, but they are almost always inside before the creatures come out.
People. Do. Not. Go. Out. At. Night. It's only in emergencies or a desperate need to return home. You'll find a few people wandering the night, but if you ever asked why it would mostly be because they are headed home, or they are late to a night job somewhere.
Speaking of jobs, very few are open at night. Most locations will have strange hours, normally set to the sirens and closing just a hour or so before they go off. Night jobs can be found in the underground mall and other well protected places, but it's always dangerous. Places like Afterglow xXx and Club 24 that stay open all night long have the best of the best bouncers and guards, keeping the darkness at bay for the evening and keeping those inside safe to enjoy themselves. It is rare that well guarded places will have many problems, but there is always a chance. Think of it as a Zombie Invasion; creatures moving towards you down a street, attracted to the light of the club. Someone will have to stand there and kill them off all so others can live to enjoy their drinks. These sorts of places tend to build up a gross pile of dead creatures in the streets around it.
If you live in a poorer district, don't expect emergency services to come at your call, at least not until morning. As powerful as our fantastic firefighters, paramedics and police force can be, even they know better then to tangle with the creatures of the night. There are far too many other problems they have to deal with. There is a greater chance of help and rescue if you live in the higher class sectors, or downtown, but even then it's less reliable service after siren. If you have an emergency, it's best to get hold of a friend or relative before trying to wait out Emergency Services. Some exceptions I have found are drastic things that could happen in the night, like a fire that threatens to take out blocks of a neighborhood, or an explosion that can't be contained. Even then, they will have some trouble getting there. It is very hard to drive in the darkness.
Driving In The Dark & Cab Services:
This should seem very simple, but there is some need for this subject. Driving in the darkness is not easy. The streets are poorly lit and littered with holes, cracks, and broken pavement, crumbled walls that by morning are fine but at night fall to pieces. There are broken vehicles in the streets that some people just can't afford to have put in a safety garage at night. There are creatures that throw things around, push objects or other creatures in the way or... just want to open your car for a snack. The streets are also so far decayed that some surfaces are oil slicked, slim slicked, burnt, bloody, rusted, or hell, sometimes even moss covered. If a creature that deals with ice has been through an area it can be slick and covered in black ice. If a lava creature has had a fight, there could be some molten lava that will instantly blow out tires. Not to mention anything moving in the streets is an automatic attention grabber for creatures to chase you.
This is to say that your car is fine in the first place. Vehicles that have been protected with cover or storage, or were being driven when the seeping darkness began to fall will be safe enough through the night to drive later. Safe in the idea that the seeping darkness won’t cover and deteriorate it swiftly; however this is not saying it is safe from creatures.
Proper care for cars? A darkness protected garage can save you a world of trouble; somewhere locked down and well sealed will keep your car in good order. If you are out and can't stop, then don't stop! Keep the engine running until the change of the world is over with. If you park it on a street somewhere, is it bound to be messed up not only by other people, creatures and darkness, but by other bad drivers as well.
Cab Services? There are a few in Siren's Port, but very few will do any taxiing during the night. The few who have tried running nightly services have never stayed in service very long (Nightmare Taxis, Twik Top Tabby Cab, Two Guys & a Tank, etc), mostly because they just can't handle the pure destruction and fright of the night. When they do try running a business they charge high prices, mostly because of safety issues. Some even make those riding with them sign a wavier form that protects the driver from liability for any deaths that occur at night.
Some people with teleportation spells have been known to offer their services. Most local bars will know a good Teleporter that can be called upon for help, but depending on the person, location and night it could be costly. In short? Just stay put for the night. The morning will come and you can go home then.
Fighting the Darkness; Weapons and Tools
Can I state again that it’s just not a good idea to go out into the night at all? Right, as long as you’re getting it. Still, there are some people who are block headed or actually have jobs that deal with the night time hours. I really can’t talk, seeing as I research this kind of stuff. That brings me to weapons and tools to use against the Darkness.
After years of research by some of the top most minds of the port it has been determined that there are no fantastic ways to dispose of the darkness. Nothing fancy anyhow. Unless you can carry a bottle of liquid sunshine or rays of super moon to calm the masses down you will have to get dirty. Flashlights work to piss off some dark loving creatures but can scare smaller ones. Darkness does not like direct light but it doesn’t always make them retreat. Sometimes it makes them attack.
Swords, guns, chains, lead pipes, baseball bats. You name it, it works. Not always of course. Some creatures had thick hides or strong shells that a gun or a sword won’t even penetrate. You have to know where to strike those creatures. Others pull the Hydra effect and grow two heads in place of the lost one. Some just get pissed off when shot.
Know your creatures. That is the best defence when battling Darkness. There are some creatures out there that you do NOT want to cut or shoot. Cutting across a creature that generates lava or spits acid might cause you more trouble then it is worth. Hitting something in the head with a bat might make it explode into some darkness plague and get you and anyone else around sick. Keep it at a distance if you can.
Exorcising or Eating the Darkness:
Seriously. It sounds odd but I have heard of some people who have eaten the darkness. Just... no. Don’t do it. Eating the darkness doesn’t grant you any new super abilities. It doesn’t give you a high. There is no nutrition from them what so ever. Doctors wont say it to your face (unless they are pretty cool doctors) but it’s stupid. Really stupid.
If you have the ability to eat souls or corrupted lives? Yes, well, go ahead I suppose, but from what I’ve seen by morning all corrupt soul nutrition you eat from feeding off the Darkness goes away and leaves you hungry. Perhaps there are other sources out there but the Darkness isn’t exactly the best choice.
For those of you who have the power to exorcise dark souls, ghosts and other beings? Good luck out there. As far as I can tell these don’t act like normal ghosts (which we do have in port) or souls. You really can’t send them anywhere and they just keep returning the next day. You might be able to repel some things, but not everything will work.
Preserving Things:
For research reasons there has been a lot of people attempting to preserve things they catch off of Darkness creatures. It’s very hard to do but possible, in some cases. First of all you must know that anything you take off a creature of the night will NOT be seen by day. It doesn’t matter if it is puss, ooze, claws, shells, scales or eyeballs. The Darkness does NOT preserve by the day.
So how does one research it? By night. There are a large number of poisonous creatures out there and only a fourth of them have any form of cure found for their effects. This has been made possibly by night time research in the laboratories. By capturing creatures at night and taking parts of them for research cures for some ailments have been found. Researchers place collected darkness in jars and other lab storage containers for further use.
Darkness contained for research will disappear by morning. As long as the storage device is NOT moved the collected darkness will return by night. If by some chance the container is moved in the day, when the darkness returns it will return to the same space, jar or not. In some cases many of collected research materials have been lost because of this. Researchers have learned to place jars in the same space before the night is over so it will return by night.
Cures and antidotes have been made from these collections but even when adding something else to the mix the darkness half of a remedy will disappear by morning and return at night. All antidotes that use the darkness itself MUST be used at night in order for it to work.
When trying to preserve other objects for making things like armor the wearer has to deal with the same problems. If by chance you gain the scale or shell of a creature it too will disappear for the morning and return at night. If the object is sown into a coat, unless that coat stays perfectly still in the day, the armor piece will constantly need to be resown into the coat. It’s very hard to deal with and armor made from darkness is not only extremely expensive it is also very RARE. Not to mention very hard to keep up.
When trying to capture the Darkness itself for research, special capture facilities have been made by SERO that will trap a creature, giving them the power to transport it to a location. In some cases the creature does return to the same place, giving researchers the chance to study that creature over and over. This only happens about 60% of the time. There is a high chance that the same creature will escape and not return to the same place.
Capturing and keeping Darkness for a pet is NOT recommended. I can’t say this enough but it’s a really stupid idea.
Scams:
For the love of everything good, research products first before taking them with full trust! If they are telling you that they have a 'spray' that will clean away darkness decay, do not trust it. Nothing cleans the decay away but the coming of morning itself. There are no aerosols developed that will make creatures less attracted to you, run away in fear, or die instantly. There are some creatures that will turn around and go the other way if they smell one scent or another, but most of those I highly doubt you will a) want to wear or b) handle the chemical problems that come with wearing it.
There is no “darkness armor” that will save you from everything. Sales of darkness armor and scaling or suits may get circulated around and sold off for large amounts of money, but those people who wear them and go out at night still have to deal with the other 90% of creatures that the armor will not protect them from. Armor will protect you from a bite or a stab, but it wont protect you from a creature that will ooze up under the plates of your armor or even melt the armor off.
There are NO trinkets, do-dads or magic stones that will repel the darkness. At least none that I have see in all my times on this island. If someone is offering a repellent or deterrent, make sure you research it in full before wasting your money on it. The best deterrent is staying out of the darkness all together.
Death at Night:
There are a lot of theories running around about death and the Darkness. Out of all of them, the one that most people believe (and I will admit I lean more towards this one as well), is that if you die outside at night your soul will become trapped within the darkness as well. As strange as that might sound, I have seen it a few times. People who have been caught out at night, killed by a creature or simply fallen to the darkness it self; I have found that even when the body is gone a creature that I swear could resemble that person can be seen the next night and forever. This would also in fact explain why it seems the Darkness seems to have grown over time. The more lives it receives at night, the more creatures it keeps through time.
Because of this, it is considered very important for some people to stay inside. If they are going to die, you’ll want to do it within a protected and safe building. Those who pass away while inside, human or creature alike, have never been recorded or noticed to being connected to the Darkness.
A recent example of this theory would be the herd of horses that were overtaken by Darkness not too long ago. A large number of them were taken down one night, and the next night a herd of Night Mares were spotted running in the city. This is another reason that the Government tries so very hard to keep the cat and feral creature population to a minimum. The more critters that get killed at night, the greater the Darkness becomes.
This brings me to Newcomers. I don’t like singling out these people anymore then they already are. They’re having just as hard a time with the night as any of us, but I have heard rumors that I want to touch upon here. It appears that when one of these people (unlike local citizens) dies in the night time hours, their soul or body perhaps appears to be trapped in the darkness and become its own monster. I’ve heard reports of these creatures being smarter then most creatures of the night, though still wild and feral. Some of them seem like vengeful spirits, while others just resemble a darkness creature strong enough to battle other creatures, where the human in life was not.
It’s very hard to say why these people are faced with this horror, and why the local population does not have this problem. Through all my years of research, I have never seen a local become their own type of Darkness Creature let alone return to life. Some Newcomers even appear to be brought back to life after this. Further research should be done with this phenomenon, but I’d rather it just be volunteer people telling me case study stories, rather then actual physical research. Let’s just keep that clear now. This is something I would rather be left as an unknown or a theory, rather then put anyone in danger at night.
Safe Places:
How do you escape the night safely? Perhaps you were late leaving work and won’t make it home in time. Perhaps a bus broke down, and you can’t make it to shelter? Maybe you just tire of the sounds of the night coming through your window and you want to drown it out with the rhythmic beats of a local DJ and bar. Whatever your reason, there are always places that are fairly safe from the creatures of the night.
The Underground Mall being the number one location for safety and entertainment. It is under ground with only three entrances that are very well protected. There are countless shops, clubs, food stands and restaurants, hotels and motels to take your mind off the nights worries or simply sleep it away in a warm bed. Some places on the surface will stay open for the night, like Club 24, Zips Arcade or AfterGlow xXx, which do a booming business in the late hours. Guards and hunters hired for their skill will keep these places protected from creatures, and these locations have state of the art, top of the line proofing. You can find many night spots open discreetly if you look, most of which have some form of extra protection, though they are not always 100% safe.
While streets might be deserted (for good reason), clubs may be packed and crowded, seeing that most people when they go to a club for the night will not be leaving until the sirens have gone off. With this in mind, most clubs are made with extra resting accommodations for those partying all night. Some places even have protected underground tunnels that lead to local diners, motels, train stations and other places of interest. Be warned though, some places with access tunnels can be easier compromised then others. It's always good to know your night spot.
Stuck outside and can't for the life of you find a club that will open up and let you in? Fear not, there are some other places you can find, if you are lucky. Downtown bus stops are enclosed and sealable with tough plastiglass as a last-minute emergency shelter; unless tampered with they are Darkness Proofed. The insides are, at least. It might look a little shady on the outside, but inside should be as clean as … well, as clean as a bus stop can be.
If by some chance you happen to be out at the local slums... sorry, sector ten, there is a underground shelter that is open for as long as they can. Once the sirens go off, however, it closes and will not open. The homeless of the city tend to fill this emergency shelter nightly.
When Morning Comes:
I know this is a guide to the Darkness itself, but I know a few people might be interested in what happens when it’s all over for the night. This is harder to research, because for the most part not much does happen. When the first rays of the sun start to burn away the night sky, the darkness just dissipates. It goes away. The creatures seem to fade in last chilling calls of torture, and the seeping darkness just disappears. Crumbled walls or cracked streets seem to be perfectly fine again. Muddy waters clear up and slime in storm drains returns to what ever it was before.
The world generally looks wet, like a fresh shower washed over everything and rid it of the rust and dirt and scum. Sometimes there are rains in the morning, but not all the time. The reason for the watery look of the morning has not been discovered, other then that’s just how it is. The weather is always a little warmer once the dark is gone, and there is always a mysterious fog that hangs around for the first hour or morning or so. Some people like to believe that the fog is the actual burn-off of the dark. Others believe this so much that they refuse to go out and breath in the fog of the morning for fear of infection.
Though the darkness will go away and the seep will disappear, there are always small unpleasant messes to deal with when someone gets caught out in the night. When creatures attack and kill a person, sometimes they are completely devoured, and sometimes only the bones left behind. Sometimes even those will melt away into the night. It’s not unheard of to stumble across the dead creature-attacked body of one less fortunate then the next, or bloody stumps of a meal that didn’t get finished. Even the remains of murdered individuals who have been dumped out at night will still remain after the darkness goes away. Their soul is another subject to follow.
When morning comes, most of the late night clubs and businesses as well as the underground mall will open up and a flood of people will stumble out, filling the streets with drunken and tired individuals, or people just worn out from work. Late night party people find this wet and generally foggy morning to be the easiest time to find their way home. The buses begin to run, the streets are fairly safe to drive through and only once in a while do they need to worry about what they might run into. You’ll find a lot of people already working their way to work for the day while businesses rush to get set up as soon as possible.
The Bestiary
Types of Creatures: You will find a list of different types of creatures found in the darkness; Humanoid, Mundane, Beast, Plant, Flying, & Ooze. I’m sure we can break it down even more, but this works for me. I have also added a new section that might be helpful to others; Non-Darkness creatures. They aren’t my speciality but it is nice to have the information of those creatures who are seen in the day as well.
Below are the different types and what you might find there. Follow the information link to find more details on the creatures of that type. As always, I am expanding this as often as I can.
Humanoid
The Darkness seems riddled with human-like creatures, wandering around through a pit of eternal rage. Some speculate that this is because of trapped souls stuck on the island; others believe they are the figments of nightmares from all over the world. Whatever it is, they come in many shapes, types and sizes, all of which seem angry.
Unless otherwise stated, the humanoid creatures of Siren's Port rampage in packs or singles, with arms or without, with legs or without. They come with faces, or no eyes, or bleeding oozing masses of gunk, some with mouths that spit tar or lava, fire or acid. Hell, the location of the mouth might even differ from time to time, being on the face, hands, belly, and so on. Some are simple, some are complex, but all are harmful and all want to bring you to your death.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
The Mutation
Big Boy - Listed: 08/11/11
Big Mother
Bitter Child
Bony Squatters
Bronzedust Cadaver
Cyclops Walker - Listed: 08/11/11
Fat Bastard/The Hungry
Long-tongued Freaks
Masked Corpse
The Multitude
Plague Stalkers - Listed: 08/11/11
Sharp Fisted Apes
Spitters
Tortured Walkers - Listed: 08/11/11
The Unhinged - Listed: 08/11/11
Water Tiki - Listed: 08/11/11
Woman of Terror - Listed: 08/11/11
Mundane
Every city has its rats, roaches, snakes in the grass, and other such beasties. This one's no different. Even in the dark there are strange creatures that come to life just to ruin your life. Just like the theories on humans' souls, the same could be said about the rats and bugs around this place. Maybe these are the souls of those creatures? Maybe it's just the radiation. Who knows really...but they are a real pain in the arse.
Mundane creatures can be found here. Those everyday things that might not be so harmful at first or by themselves, but get too many and you're in trouble. Spiders and slugs and scary little bugs that make normal black widow spiders look friendly. Some of which can be found here, but again, as always, this is nowhere near the full list.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
Catlobster - Listed: 08/11/11
Crystal Spider - Updated: 08/11/11
Death Head Squid - Listed: 08/11/11
Deer Fleas - Listed: 08/11/11
Devil's Trap - Listed: 08/11/11
Diggers
Flat Worm - Listed: 08/11/11
Fuzz Puffs - Listed: 08/11/11
Gutter Roach
Holy Slug
Jack Cats
Memory Leeches - Listed: 08/11/11
Power Leeches - Listed: 08/11/11
Quelks - Listed: 08/11/11
Rust Crab
Rat-tailed Pigeons
Sharp Sighted Frogs - Listed: 08/11/11
Striders
Beast
Fangs and sharp eyes, a growl, a snarl, and four (or more) legs. Beasts of all shapes and sizes can be found here, and most of them not friendly. Built from leftover house pets that were brought back and mutated, or that poor cat that got left out the night before and is now part of the nightmares. Whatever it is, the creatures of the night come in all forms indeed.
Burnt flesh, snarling masses of fangs, dogs with tangling faces of tentacle-like rope, or chickens with udders and glowing red eyes. Whatever it is, if it didn’t fly and couldn't be considered human, it ended up here.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
Battlesoul Hounds
Corpse Stalker
Death Deer - Listed: 08/11/11
Grunders
The Headless
Missionworth Lighthouse Serpent - Listed: 08/11/11
Night Mare - Listed: 08/11/11
Night Naga - Listed: 08/11/11
Rope-faced Dog
Rotgut Cougar
Rotgut Kitten
Sewer Cow - Listed: 08/11/11
Skuller Mutt - Listed: 08/11/11
Plant
Not everything out there is based off some form of animal or human. There are some plant based creatures out there that can be more then a handful for the most hardened fighter.
Dripping tentacles, rubbery snaring roots, thick thorns that cut deep, and pod like bodies. Where ever you go there is bound to be some plant like creature looking to make you it’s next meal.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
Lake Giant - Listed: 08/11/11
Pods - Listed: 08/11/11
Pox Pollen Mushroom - Listed: 08/11/11
Stumps - Listed: 08/11/11
Venus Assault Trap - Listed: 08/11/11
Vicious Pods - Listed: 08/11/11
Flying
Birds of a feather kill together. At least that’s how it is in the Darkness. Birds that got lost, trapped on the island, and were killed...oh well, just more trouble for you and me at night. Some mutated and run about on their own. Some could be the souls of the ones from the first melt down. These little peckers are hungry, and if I were you, I wouldn’t stand around tossing bread crumbs.
Molting, tar covered, razor beaked, hornets and hummingbirds alike. If it can fly it’s noted here. These things never leave the City even if they wanted to or could. Oh no, they fly about the City, roosting on roofs and pecking holes in windows, bars, or trying to find a good place to make it home for the night. They’re worse than city pigeons I tell ya.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
Crow Hackers
Flying Whale - Listed: 08/11/11
Icarus Winged
Parrotsquid - Listed: 08/11/11
Rotmoss Wasps
Sight Hawks
Wyvern - Listed: 08/11/11
Ooze
The unexplainable. That's what this is. There are some substances that are just completely unexplainable. I just call it an Ooze. Most of the time it IS ooze too...but for the things that I just can't place or explain? Oh, you'll find them here.
Acid spitting balls of gunk, green slithering blobs, or pink bone stripping, lava spewing, junk eating masses of...whatthefuck. That's what you find here. There's really nothing else to explain about it. Just...watch your step.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
The 8-Hour Death
Acid Blob
Bone Strippers
Elemental Ooze
Fanged Heap
Lava Lurch
Snake Ooze - Listed: 08/11/11
Non-Darkness
Creatures that come out in the day. Sometimes they are troublesome enough or dangerous enough to actually write about here. Creatures that have been mutated because of the city or things that appear to have popped up from other places and are not native of our own place.
Rats and little black blobs that appear in the day. Monsters of the lake that are onloy recorded in fuzzy pictures and big footed beings that leave trails in the woodlands. Those things that go bump in the DAY are listed here.
See this page for
more information.
Creatures Listed:
Horned Rats - Listed: 08/11/11
Toxic Rats - Listed: 08/11/11
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OOC NOTE:
Would you like to add something to the list? You can do this either IC or OOC. If your character runs into something and decides they want to toss it up on the list, they can, and will be credited as the character making the note. If your character isn't the type to do such a thing but YOU are, please fill it out anyhow and credit as Anonymous. If you draw and want to submit a picture, drawing, doodle, finger painting, Photoshop manip, or generally anything else that would help with visuals, please do so as well. Original works are credited to the player (even if listed as anon for the post).
If you wish to add to the Bestiary, please fill in the information in the text box below. Your comment will show up as a text box, so don't worry about that!
If your idea is used we will post it directly to the Bestiary, as if Darwin updated his web site.