The One Who Smiles

A malicious spirit of the Black Lodge

The faith of the Two Suns cult expresses its duality through belief in two contraposed metaphysical realms, each representing the aspect of its respective solar exemplar. The Lord of Light (Mazta) holds court in the White Lodge, whereas the Lord of Darkness (Ahriman) holds dominion in the Black Lodge. Each realm is home to myriad metaphysical beings, known as spirits or entities. Among these spirits is a grinning malevolent force known as "The One Who Smiles," an entity of pure malice who lurks in nightmares to haunt the dreamscapes of the Zone.

Summary

The powers of darkness gather in the Black Lodge and plot how best to influence the realms of men and women. Seeking to walk among humans, the spirits of the lodge adopt human forms. However ingenious these disguises may be, the malevolent nature of the walking spirit often reveals itself through exaggerated or grotesque details. This is true of Dinehidlooh, "The One Who Smiles."

Also known as "The Smiling Man," this lodge spirit constantly wears a hideous grin and is incapable of changing his expression. The Zoners of the Two Suns believe the spirit smiles because he cannot contain his amusement at the absurdity of human existence, which he considers to be nothing more than a foolish jest. He is a cruel spirit and delights in inflicting torments upon mortals who carelessly wander into the Black Lodge. The Smiling Man is also a ravenous consumer of human misery and can always be bribed with a prize of Ambektar if his hunger for suffering has not already been sated.

According to Two Sun folktales, the Smiling Man wanders out of the Black Lodge through the dream trails of the walking stars. Ranging abroad through the dream realms of human beings, he enters the unconscious mind in order to inflict nocturnal torments within the sensory medium of dreams. Encounters with the Smiling Man nearly always occur in nightmares, but he has been known to occasionally walk in the daylight world as well. In the Story Keeper tales, those who meet the Smiling Man often cannot discern whether or not they are awake or dreaming, which can result in indefinite catatonic stupor.