Dark August Night
Scion of Death, Mistress of the House of Night Dark August Night (a.k.a. Sule Fear)
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Dark is most noticeable for how very small she is. She isn't quite five foot and has the lovely grace of a vampire hunter, with large eyes and an almost doll like aesthetic. She is small, but like all of her kind, tremendously strong and fast.
Identifying Characteristics
Her amethyst eyes and white hair stand out dramatically.
Physical quirks
Though she almost always has them glamoured, Dark has tattoos over the whole of her back and shoulders, all the way down to her elbows.
Special abilities
Relic, as a daemon, taught Dark rudimentary Shadowmancy. She uses this to deadly effectiveness while working.
Apparel & Accessories
Dark, when at home, dresses mostly in pastel, cute pj's and anime shirts. She almost never wears shoes, and it would be impossible to imagine her as a killer if one did not know so. While working, she dresses in close fitting, reinforced black.
Specialized Equipment
A Hanzo katana gifted to her by Tokugawa Ieasu.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
From the writings of Dark August Night, Mistress of the House of Night -
It began with darkness. That is where my name comes from, because anything that existed before my murder is gone. Not in the oh so dramatic, ‘woe is me’ kind of way. More… something went wrong, we think. Or they think, anyway. I don’t actually care because it’s gone. It is hard to miss what you don’t have. And my human life, whatever there was… is very much gone. Not one shred of memory, not one familiar face. No echoes of feelings or connections that might otherwise tie me to what I was. All there is… is this darkness.
I’ve always found it lovely, the dark. Where the stars dwell and the moon traces her endless path of chasing her lover across a sky to a place they almost never meet. Even they have a moment, though, those rare eclipse that make it all worth it, I assume. I don’t really have any of that appertaining angst, no mourning for what was. This is all that I know.
I’m told that I was murdered in 1025 CE off of the North East coast of Ireland. One of the small islands that had little to offer the Norse raiders looking for churches to plunder. It was a little late in the age for them to be out a Viking… but Christianity hadn’t tamed all the old clans… and some still prowled the seas looking for gold and slaves. What they found was a girl with nothing of value. My sire and her company found me as I lay dying. She seemed moved that it was a shame one so young should die. So… here I am. A vampire with no memory save a story told by others. For all I know… none of that is even true.
And would it matter anyway? Doubtful. And so here I am… Dark.
I was made to this life by Siobhan. It was she who founded the House of Night sometime in the later part of the fourth century AD. House lore would have it that she rode at the side of the warrior Queen Boudicca… Knowing her, I’m not disinclined to believe that. Castle Night was a simple affair on the West Coast of Scotland near Loch Ryan, then later, off the Cornish coast. Home to many who did not share Siobhan’s blood, they served a… unique purpose. This House, against every inclination and tradition of the Unliving and the Damned… served the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps they were looking to tame the monsters of their natures. Or cling to some semblance of a Mortal life long gone. Some, I think, hoped that perhaps they could find redemption for bloody deeds and perhaps earn a chance at heaven after all. Because even for we who are deathless… the end comes eventually. Perhaps after countless eons, but an end all the same.
And so the House of Night stood, assassins most, guardians others. Many Supernatural folk beyond just those born of blood made their home there. In service to any who were of goodly kind… or who wished the destruction of evil, the House stood. One does not make friends of the wicked, however, when one Hunts them. Vampires are monsters. All of us. No noble cause changes that.
In 1939 AD… on Christmas Eve, the single sacred holiday for the House when they were all gathered under one roof from their various missions and endeavors, those who had grown weary of being Hunted and killed by this house of Virtuous Assassins… struck. The castle was sealed by magic… a fire lit. In conflagration and vengeance the House of Night burned. Only the very few late or not in attendance remained.
I was one.
For longer than I like to admit… I was an empty thing. The memories and life that so many have to draw on to define themselves in undeath were lost to me. As such, I was a blank canvas. This made me a boring person. The consequence, however, was that I was an excellent assassin. I trained. I Hunted. I attended Mass. Relationships were a complication I didn’t understand. Until a wayward priest of lost Lindisfarne befriended me. It was also this same priest who gave me the second of my names. August. He was more than he seemed, however. A daemon, little ‘d’, who had grown tired and bored with leading Mortals astray… he’d all but removed himself from the world. Now, he joined the House and became my Hunting partner. Later, we would serve beside those we would come to see as dearest brothers. The Knights Templar, who gave him the name he now bears: Relic. He remains even now my truest friend and eternal pain-in-the-ass.
I served my House, saw the world, and traversed history. I stood before the bloody gates of Targovishte beneath the forests of the Impaled. That Prince would later become one of the greatest friends and adversaries of my life. In Japan I served the great Tokugawa Ieyasu and learned from Musashi. I still carry the katana my friend gave me before he died. I miss them both very much.
I would eventually refound the House of Night, to resume my Sire's mission and collect those who needed a purpose like ours. And if I am honest, to give myself purpose. Tprotégépurposelessness
I have been fortunate in love, I think, for all that I spent so long an empty murder doll. Family and friends aside, for they make you in a way different than those who see you stripped from all other pretense, I have had a few true loves in my unlife. Relic is and will forever be as a part of my own being. My best friend, though never lover. He brought the world to me and me into the world. He saw me as a person when no other did, and when it would have been so much safer and easier to give up, he remained. I love him, shamelessly and with utter wholeness.
impenetrable
From ashes of a restless life and a mistake from which I did not believe I would ever recover, a new fire… and an old lover who always knew when I needed him. My Faery Knight, my opposite in almost everything, and yet… I think I have always known you were my Kintsugi. Golden and bright in all of the cracked places. My Evermore. Who holds my hand without chains, and promises me we will find our way together… even when we’re apart. Aodfhin broke me in more ways than any other, and set me free. He is my shield and sword, my summer fire, and deep melancholy. Tortures and hell, even the Distant Shore would not keep him from me and now we walk, after a long and painful dance, side by side. He is my Partner, my Raven, my Always. In him, I am learning how to be better. With him, I am.
More he gave me, Fhin who first sparked the fire of a desire all my own. Autumn too, his brother, Quillian of Autumn and Earth. Stag hearted Knight. At first I could not tell my feelings from those of my beloved, but in time, I came to love Quill too. To appreciate the will of him, and the easy humor. His tempestuousness, and his gentleness. We were three then, none sacrificing for love of the other. And I watched a part of Fhin heal, whole where he had been so hurt before.
Winter we claimed with the last of the Boons owed me by the Hunter, and though I could not have known then, a Bond writ on bone that would make us Lady and Knight forever. I have always loved Winter, from the first I set eyes on him, who was so like me and still is. Who holds me in silence, who is care and compassion when I have none for myself. Who's wolf heart is loyal and vast and so three were made complete as four. Though Robin and Quill love best one another, we are one heart and I have found a love that surpasses anything I could have ever imagined.
I have walked unlife a long time... and still there is wonder. That out of that which might be so terrible... there are second chances even for once such as myself. There are things in this world far greater than I, older and far more cunning. I thought to challenge one. To save what I loved, to spare Noah Sinclaire, my godson and my human heart, and Relic, I sought to hunt what I had not been granted leave. I thought myself mighty enough.
I was wrong.
I was lost for a long time in the realm of Darkness, wherein all Dreams are born. Not even the Distant Shore, the domain of my Master, held me. While my body died, my soul, if such as I am could be said to have such things, wandered. It was Noah and Relic who found me. Who brought me home. They delivered me from the final death that the Fallen Angel Andriel would have delivered, for even one who serves Death is not exempt from Him. I know of only one who is such and he's a Welsh piercer who lives in Chicago most of the time.
An old war was back at my door - pieces moving in the dark by the hand of those thought long dead and gone. Myths still real. We could not see all of the moving pieces, old enemies who had united. I am not the commander that my Sire was, nor the tactician as Connor. I missed them most in moments like that. We did the best we could to fight for the supernatural communities who were being targeted, who were scared. Im not good at running from a fight, about letting others suffer when I can do something about it. I am made for war... I know little else. Im useful in little else. We gathered strength, reached out to contacts old and new. We ran missions and collected what we thought we might need to take on the forces arrayed against us. Seemed things were going pretty alright for a while. Wed suffered some setbacks and hurts, but no one had died, so that seemed like a win to me. And we grew ever closer to unmasking the master behind this array of conflicts so that we could dismantle them. Until Fhin and I went to Rome. Just to talk to the Pope. I had questions... My House has always held a Commission and it hurt to be blind sided with the desolation of that without a word. He gave me hard answers I didnt want to hear, but they were fair. And then I fucked up. Fell into a trap like some neonate. I was pretty sure Fhin and I were dead then. Were good... but not against a veritable army. Turns out they had much more in mind. Wanted information that I am oathsworn to keep. One of the down sides to being immortal and having a very good regeneration cycle? Torture can continue. They can break you again and again. And they did. Until one who I had called friend stood boldly under a banner than I had prayed with Nazi Germany decided to show his smug face and use that fucking Silver of Judas Iscariot to make me talk. Holy Relics are a pain in the ass. Left us crucified to die in the light of the dawn once hed gotten what hed wanted. Longest ten days of my unlife. Our folk arrived in time, though, thank the saints. Its been a hell of a recovery... for everyone. Storming the Vatican isnt to be done lightly and Fhin and I werent the only ones gravely hurt. But, we had pieces and we could finally begin to make progress. So much happened in so little time until the long and twisting hand of Morgan le Fae was played out for all to see, to destroy two worlds in her bitterness and wrath.
It is too near still to speak of the Battle of Avalon. We lost friends who will never walk this earth again and almost my beloveds and I were to die by the hands of one another. We recover now, but we are none of us unchanged. Perhaps we have bought peace with our victory, I am not wise and cannot say. Only that we are still together, my House still whole at least, and for that I am grateful. We will try to go back to our lives, a little different.
After all, nothing that dies... ever comes back the same.
It began with darkness. That is where my name comes from, because anything that existed before my murder is gone. Not in the oh so dramatic, ‘woe is me’ kind of way. More… something went wrong, we think. Or they think, anyway. I don’t actually care because it’s gone. It is hard to miss what you don’t have. And my human life, whatever there was… is very much gone. Not one shred of memory, not one familiar face. No echoes of feelings or connections that might otherwise tie me to what I was. All there is… is this darkness.
I’ve always found it lovely, the dark. Where the stars dwell and the moon traces her endless path of chasing her lover across a sky to a place they almost never meet. Even they have a moment, though, those rare eclipse that make it all worth it, I assume. I don’t really have any of that appertaining angst, no mourning for what was. This is all that I know.
I’m told that I was murdered in 1025 CE off of the North East coast of Ireland. One of the small islands that had little to offer the Norse raiders looking for churches to plunder. It was a little late in the age for them to be out a Viking… but Christianity hadn’t tamed all the old clans… and some still prowled the seas looking for gold and slaves. What they found was a girl with nothing of value. My sire and her company found me as I lay dying. She seemed moved that it was a shame one so young should die. So… here I am. A vampire with no memory save a story told by others. For all I know… none of that is even true.
And would it matter anyway? Doubtful. And so here I am… Dark.
I was made to this life by Siobhan. It was she who founded the House of Night sometime in the later part of the fourth century AD. House lore would have it that she rode at the side of the warrior Queen Boudicca… Knowing her, I’m not disinclined to believe that. Castle Night was a simple affair on the West Coast of Scotland near Loch Ryan, then later, off the Cornish coast. Home to many who did not share Siobhan’s blood, they served a… unique purpose. This House, against every inclination and tradition of the Unliving and the Damned… served the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church. Perhaps they were looking to tame the monsters of their natures. Or cling to some semblance of a Mortal life long gone. Some, I think, hoped that perhaps they could find redemption for bloody deeds and perhaps earn a chance at heaven after all. Because even for we who are deathless… the end comes eventually. Perhaps after countless eons, but an end all the same.
And so the House of Night stood, assassins most, guardians others. Many Supernatural folk beyond just those born of blood made their home there. In service to any who were of goodly kind… or who wished the destruction of evil, the House stood. One does not make friends of the wicked, however, when one Hunts them. Vampires are monsters. All of us. No noble cause changes that.
In 1939 AD… on Christmas Eve, the single sacred holiday for the House when they were all gathered under one roof from their various missions and endeavors, those who had grown weary of being Hunted and killed by this house of Virtuous Assassins… struck. The castle was sealed by magic… a fire lit. In conflagration and vengeance the House of Night burned. Only the very few late or not in attendance remained.
I was one.
For longer than I like to admit… I was an empty thing. The memories and life that so many have to draw on to define themselves in undeath were lost to me. As such, I was a blank canvas. This made me a boring person. The consequence, however, was that I was an excellent assassin. I trained. I Hunted. I attended Mass. Relationships were a complication I didn’t understand. Until a wayward priest of lost Lindisfarne befriended me. It was also this same priest who gave me the second of my names. August. He was more than he seemed, however. A daemon, little ‘d’, who had grown tired and bored with leading Mortals astray… he’d all but removed himself from the world. Now, he joined the House and became my Hunting partner. Later, we would serve beside those we would come to see as dearest brothers. The Knights Templar, who gave him the name he now bears: Relic. He remains even now my truest friend and eternal pain-in-the-ass.
I served my House, saw the world, and traversed history. I stood before the bloody gates of Targovishte beneath the forests of the Impaled. That Prince would later become one of the greatest friends and adversaries of my life. In Japan I served the great Tokugawa Ieyasu and learned from Musashi. I still carry the katana my friend gave me before he died. I miss them both very much.
I would eventually refound the House of Night, to resume my Sire's mission and collect those who needed a purpose like ours. And if I am honest, to give myself purpose. Tprotégépurposelessness
I have been fortunate in love, I think, for all that I spent so long an empty murder doll. Family and friends aside, for they make you in a way different than those who see you stripped from all other pretense, I have had a few true loves in my unlife. Relic is and will forever be as a part of my own being. My best friend, though never lover. He brought the world to me and me into the world. He saw me as a person when no other did, and when it would have been so much safer and easier to give up, he remained. I love him, shamelessly and with utter wholeness.
impenetrable
From ashes of a restless life and a mistake from which I did not believe I would ever recover, a new fire… and an old lover who always knew when I needed him. My Faery Knight, my opposite in almost everything, and yet… I think I have always known you were my Kintsugi. Golden and bright in all of the cracked places. My Evermore. Who holds my hand without chains, and promises me we will find our way together… even when we’re apart. Aodfhin broke me in more ways than any other, and set me free. He is my shield and sword, my summer fire, and deep melancholy. Tortures and hell, even the Distant Shore would not keep him from me and now we walk, after a long and painful dance, side by side. He is my Partner, my Raven, my Always. In him, I am learning how to be better. With him, I am.
More he gave me, Fhin who first sparked the fire of a desire all my own. Autumn too, his brother, Quillian of Autumn and Earth. Stag hearted Knight. At first I could not tell my feelings from those of my beloved, but in time, I came to love Quill too. To appreciate the will of him, and the easy humor. His tempestuousness, and his gentleness. We were three then, none sacrificing for love of the other. And I watched a part of Fhin heal, whole where he had been so hurt before.
Winter we claimed with the last of the Boons owed me by the Hunter, and though I could not have known then, a Bond writ on bone that would make us Lady and Knight forever. I have always loved Winter, from the first I set eyes on him, who was so like me and still is. Who holds me in silence, who is care and compassion when I have none for myself. Who's wolf heart is loyal and vast and so three were made complete as four. Though Robin and Quill love best one another, we are one heart and I have found a love that surpasses anything I could have ever imagined.
I have walked unlife a long time... and still there is wonder. That out of that which might be so terrible... there are second chances even for once such as myself. There are things in this world far greater than I, older and far more cunning. I thought to challenge one. To save what I loved, to spare Noah Sinclaire, my godson and my human heart, and Relic, I sought to hunt what I had not been granted leave. I thought myself mighty enough.
I was wrong.
I was lost for a long time in the realm of Darkness, wherein all Dreams are born. Not even the Distant Shore, the domain of my Master, held me. While my body died, my soul, if such as I am could be said to have such things, wandered. It was Noah and Relic who found me. Who brought me home. They delivered me from the final death that the Fallen Angel Andriel would have delivered, for even one who serves Death is not exempt from Him. I know of only one who is such and he's a Welsh piercer who lives in Chicago most of the time.
An old war was back at my door - pieces moving in the dark by the hand of those thought long dead and gone. Myths still real. We could not see all of the moving pieces, old enemies who had united. I am not the commander that my Sire was, nor the tactician as Connor. I missed them most in moments like that. We did the best we could to fight for the supernatural communities who were being targeted, who were scared. Im not good at running from a fight, about letting others suffer when I can do something about it. I am made for war... I know little else. Im useful in little else. We gathered strength, reached out to contacts old and new. We ran missions and collected what we thought we might need to take on the forces arrayed against us. Seemed things were going pretty alright for a while. Wed suffered some setbacks and hurts, but no one had died, so that seemed like a win to me. And we grew ever closer to unmasking the master behind this array of conflicts so that we could dismantle them. Until Fhin and I went to Rome. Just to talk to the Pope. I had questions... My House has always held a Commission and it hurt to be blind sided with the desolation of that without a word. He gave me hard answers I didnt want to hear, but they were fair. And then I fucked up. Fell into a trap like some neonate. I was pretty sure Fhin and I were dead then. Were good... but not against a veritable army. Turns out they had much more in mind. Wanted information that I am oathsworn to keep. One of the down sides to being immortal and having a very good regeneration cycle? Torture can continue. They can break you again and again. And they did. Until one who I had called friend stood boldly under a banner than I had prayed with Nazi Germany decided to show his smug face and use that fucking Silver of Judas Iscariot to make me talk. Holy Relics are a pain in the ass. Left us crucified to die in the light of the dawn once hed gotten what hed wanted. Longest ten days of my unlife. Our folk arrived in time, though, thank the saints. Its been a hell of a recovery... for everyone. Storming the Vatican isnt to be done lightly and Fhin and I werent the only ones gravely hurt. But, we had pieces and we could finally begin to make progress. So much happened in so little time until the long and twisting hand of Morgan le Fae was played out for all to see, to destroy two worlds in her bitterness and wrath.
It is too near still to speak of the Battle of Avalon. We lost friends who will never walk this earth again and almost my beloveds and I were to die by the hands of one another. We recover now, but we are none of us unchanged. Perhaps we have bought peace with our victory, I am not wise and cannot say. Only that we are still together, my House still whole at least, and for that I am grateful. We will try to go back to our lives, a little different.
After all, nothing that dies... ever comes back the same.
Gender Identity
Cis Woman
Sexuality
demisexual panromantic
Education
Dark has studied more of training than books. Several martial arts, gun play, languages, and tactics, she has always learned by doing than by attending any kinds of official schools.
Employment
Assassin of the House of Night
Mental Trauma
From the moment she was made a vampire, Dark has been absent something. What makes others human, their experiences and memories, she had none. As such, she was a near emotionless automaton for centuries. A brutally efficient killer, she also suffered often from horrible physical trauma that came with the occupation of being an assassin, and the mental struggles that come with that.
After assisting Vlad Tepish in Wallachia, she had something of a psychotic break and was sent to Japan to train with an ancient kitsune named Shiro. It was here she learned her favored weapon and trained in how to close off her mind and find her own sense of peace. She remained in Japan for a long time before returning to the House of Night proper.
Even after, Dark seemed more brittle than before, as if whatever had been wrong about her turning was finally breaking her. She became increasingly inhuman, losing what mercy and humanity she'd seemed to have. This culminated in her being sent to Faery where she effectively died. The Hunter pulled her back from the Distant Shore, but she was never the same. Emotions, feelings, a sense of self came flooding into her and finally, Dark began to open up in a more human way.
The loss of her whole family when the House burned left her with deep emotional scars and a sense of abiding guilt and failure. Dark struggles with deep feelings if inadequacy and alienization from others, and she cannot parse strong emotions.
After assisting Vlad Tepish in Wallachia, she had something of a psychotic break and was sent to Japan to train with an ancient kitsune named Shiro. It was here she learned her favored weapon and trained in how to close off her mind and find her own sense of peace. She remained in Japan for a long time before returning to the House of Night proper.
Even after, Dark seemed more brittle than before, as if whatever had been wrong about her turning was finally breaking her. She became increasingly inhuman, losing what mercy and humanity she'd seemed to have. This culminated in her being sent to Faery where she effectively died. The Hunter pulled her back from the Distant Shore, but she was never the same. Emotions, feelings, a sense of self came flooding into her and finally, Dark began to open up in a more human way.
The loss of her whole family when the House burned left her with deep emotional scars and a sense of abiding guilt and failure. Dark struggles with deep feelings if inadequacy and alienization from others, and she cannot parse strong emotions.
Intellectual Characteristics
Dark is world smart by virtue of having been alive for almost a thousand years, but if a thing is not relevant to her work, she quickly forgets it. She has never had any kind of formal schooling, though she has learned many trades in her long life.
Morality & Philosophy
Dark is a devout Catholic who believes in the Noblis Oblige. She long followed the Code of Bushido and strives to live simply and honestly in all ways that she can. The codes and laws around her are vitally important to her because for ages she could not feel them for herself, having only those structures to guide and give form to her life.
Taboos
Dark does not, and cannot, drink human blood. As such she only drinks from supernaturals. Nothing else is strong enough to maintain her because of the tremendous amount of energy it takes her to utilize her strengths.
Social
Contacts & Relations
House Sinclaire - Allies
The Knights Templar - Allies
The Vatican - Employers
The Knights Templar - Allies
The Vatican - Employers
Family Ties
Relic Night Sinclaire - former Hunting Partner
Noah Sinclaire - Godson
Darcy Night - Daughter
Kashka Night - Daughter
Aodfhin - Husband
Robin - Lover
Quill - Lover
Velorum - Master
Noah Sinclaire - Godson
Darcy Night - Daughter
Kashka Night - Daughter
Aodfhin - Husband
Robin - Lover
Quill - Lover
Velorum - Master
Religious Views
Catholic
Social Aptitude
Dark... is bad with people. She doesn't understand what makes others work and so often makes social mistakes or seems awkward in casual conversation.
Mannerisms
She is a little too still and focused, never really moves like a natural human.
Hobbies & Pets
Photography and Bonsai
Speech
She sounds as if she's from the American Midwest with a hint of an Irish lilt when she gets upset and speaks very formally most of the time unless she is comfortable with someone.
Wealth & Financial state
Having lived so long, Dark has vast wealth.
Current Location
Species
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Scion of Death
Mistress of the House of Night
Stormshadow
The White Crow
Mistress of the House of Night
Stormshadow
The White Crow
Date of Birth
May 13, 1006 CE
Date of Death
December 21, 1025
Circumstances of Death
Killed by late era Norse raiders, turned as a Vampire then.
Birthplace
The Pale of Ireland
Place of Death
Ireland
Children
Pronouns
she/her
Gender
female
Eyes
Amethyst (formerly green)
Hair
Long, straight, and white. Usually braided into hundreds of tiny braids
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
paraffin white
Height
4'10
Weight
135lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
That which dies... never comes back the same.
Born of Shadow, Arisen in Light.
Born of Shadow, Arisen in Light.
Belief/Deity
Catholic
Other Affiliations
I have to say, I rarely read stories about classic Dark Fantasy, especially vampires, but I find Dark nice in the sense of refreshingly different, multi-layered - which may also be due to the very different approaches there are in your mythology. I really haven't seen this compilation like this before, and Dark's personal history makes me really want to read up on certain aspects of her life. That's why I put the comment here rather than, say, at Avarin, even though it too is well written. Anyway, thanks for the articles.