Darkling

A darkling is often confused for a type of creature, though technically it is a condition/curse that takes over another creature. Darkling people become gnarled and their skin turns to a shade of black. Many of them develop bat-like wings.

Origin

All darklings come from Lord Night who holds the original curse. Early followers of the archfae saw that the creature was struggling to fight the dark urges and anger within them, so they asked if it was possible to share this burden. Early attempts at this went very wrong, instead creating creatures that could not contain their hunger and darkness, becoming the first Vampires and escaping.

It took a very long time before Lord Night let themself attempt this again, as they felt extreme shame and responsibility for creating such dark creatures out of people who only wanted to help. However, its followers persisted and tried to train themselves to be strong to prove they could control the darkness. Lord Night attempted this again on a selection of people who proved they were strong and most were able to bear it. These people were the first to under-go a process now called "taking on the burden" and become Darklings. This process is kept very secret and is reserved only for people that prove their loyalty and strength.

By creating a select group of these creatures, Lord Night eventually gave away enough of its curse to become mostly stable and controlled.