The Darkling

Wiki


Aleksanders personality has been forged through centuries. In his world, a few children every year are born with special abilities called practitioners of the Small Sciences. Or Grisha. They can control the physical world around them; the wind, fire, water. Or metal. Or skin. They can heal and they can guide the rain when the farms need it.



There has only ever been one family line that can control shadows, called Shadow Summoners. Aleksander's mother can control them and so can he. This ability can be traced back to Aleksander's grandfather Morozava.



He is controlling and manipulative, but never without a reason. He is primarily motivated by an urge to keep Grisha safe. As a child, and through out his life, he has seen them herded together and murdered. They were feared and thus, struck down like cattle. He burns for revenge on the otkazat'sya who would let these things happen and to keep Ravka and Grisha safe at all costs.



He also like power a great deal, thinking himself the only one strong enough and powerful enough to lead Ravka through the war and make sure the other countries do not try to invade. He wants to do this by expanding and controlling the Fold / the Unsea, a giant swath of land separating West Ravka from East Ravka that is pure darkness. The fold is filled with monster (Volcra) who hunger for human flesh and who make crossing the Unsea dangerous. By controlling it, he wants to force the whole world to leave Ravka alone.



There's a loneliness to him, having lived so many lives, with no clear attachment to anyone for decades. He lives to keep Grisha safe. By any means necessary.






The Darkling is described as tall and lean. A hansom young man, looking from late-twenties to mid-thirties, with black hair and dark eyes. Other Grisha mention that everyone feels drawn to him, to the power that he exudes and because he can be very charming. And dangerous.

PB is Ben Barnes.

ABILITY

Aleksander is Grisha. Grisha are humans who practice the Small Science. They are traditionally divided into three orders, Corporalki, Etherealki and Materialki, with each order being further divided into specialized types.



Often principles such as 'like calls to like' are used to explain Grisha power, and most Grisha see their powers as "extensions" of the natural world which is why they don't call their power "magic" but instead Small Science. For example, Inferni cannot produce fire but can manipulate naturally occurring combustible gases, and Durasts do not create metal: rather, they simply have the ability to alter it.



Grisha who don't use their powers for extended periods of time are said to grow weaker over time. This is due to their powers being an ability like sight or communication. When you don't use the ability it gets weaker, for you don't have a need for it.



He is the Black Heretic, the Shadow King, he is the one who created the Fold centuries ago, to destroy an army and to wreak havoc on the soldiers who killed and tortured his kind and his love. He controls shadows, with the ability to call on the shadows to black out the sun. To cast any room and any field in shadows. He can also concentrate the shadows in to a dark blade, called the Cut, a sharp, shadow-blade that flies from his fingers.



Like all Grisha, he is unable to use his Small Science if his hands are restricted.



Aleksander is aldo a Living Amplifier. This means that physical contact with other Grisha will greatly enhance their power and their ability to use the Small Science.

Event

Many centuries ago, known then as the Black Heretic, the Darkling returned home to his partner Luda, who was also a Grisha Healer. Not long after his return, their home was surrounded by the King’s soldiers, demanding that the Darkling turn himself over. The Darkling did as instructed and gave himself up peacefully. However, the King's men had no intentions of bringing him in and shot the Darkling with arrows. Fortunately, Luda remained hidden inside, healing the Darkling as he was struck with each arrow. However, one of the soldiers managed to capture Luda and kill her. Enraged by her death, the Darkling used the Cut, killing nearly a dozen of the King’s men.



The Darkling rode on horseback to the sanctuary with Luda’s body, hoping to heal her, but he was too late. The Darkling then informed his mother of the soldiers sweeping west. Baghra blamed the Darkling for making the King afraid, so now in turn he sought to make the Grisha fear him. The Darkling reminded Baghra that she taught him how to kill, meaning their blood is on her hands as much as his own. She urged him to flee west to Kerch and wait for the King to die. Then he could return under a new identity and make peace with the new King. However, the Darkling refused to run while Grisha were in trouble. He sought to train them how to fight, but with so few of them actually knowing for to fight, the Darkling decided he would make a new army as Morozova did by forging new life to amplify their power using merzost.



Despite his mother’s warning, the Darkling sought out Morozova’s journals in the archives. Just outside the sanctuary stood more of the King’s men, armed with arrows. The King wanted the Darkling in custody. Surrounded by dozens of soldiers, the Darkling raised his hands. Using merzost, he turned the King’s men into his own army, unintentionally creating the Fold in the process.



General Kirigan arrives at the campsite of the First Army to see the skiff off as they travel into the Fold to Novokribirsk to retrieve supplies.



General Kirigan requests for Alina Starkov to be brought to his tent after hearing that she allegedly destroyed the volcra attacking the skiff with light. He suspects that she may be the highly prophesized Sun Summoner and asks what she is. Alina insists that she is nothing more than an ordinary map maker. However, when Zoya swears that Alina emitted a searing light, General Kirigan asks where she grew up and when she was tested, but Alina claims not to remember. He then grabs her forearm and makes a small incision, causing a beam of light to shoot from her arm and through the roof of the tent, confirming the Darkling’s suspicion.



General Kirigan rescues Alina on the road to the Little Palace, where her carriage is attacked by the Drüskelle, one of whom manage to pull Alina from the wagon and drag her into the field. Armed with a hatchet, the Drüskelle raises his hand to Alina, but before he can bring his hand down, General Kirigan arrives and slices the man in two with "the Cut." He then helps Alina up and takes her the rest of the way to the Little Palace, during which time he explains that what Alina witnessed was a signature summoner move known as the Cut. Kirigan believes that the attempt on Alina’s life proves just how much their enemies fear her existence. Her light show in the Fold must’ve alerted them. She may well be the first of her kind, but they’ve always had a name for her — someone who could harness light and use it to destroy the Fold from within, but Alina doesn’t wish to be Grisha. She views her abilities as a curse as opposed to a gift. He then asks Alina once more if she was tested as a child. Alina reveals that she and Mal hid during the testing, as she didn’t want to be separated from her only friend.
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Kirigan drops Alina off at the Little Palace and orders for her to be taken to the vezda suite. She asks if she’s a prisoner. Kirigan replies that all of Ravka is until they banish the Fold.



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