sir_samuel | Canon excerpts: The Summoning Dark

I've been meaning to do a more extensive explainer on Vimes' resident demon, the Summoning Dark, particularly for the various telepaths, empaths, and other sorts of mind readers in Darrow. But I've realized that sharing canon excerpts is really the best way to do so. Everything under cuts is, inherently, a slight spoiler for the Discworld novels Thud and Snuff; I've labeled the Thud spoilers that actually give away significant bits about how the story ends.

About the Summoning Dark

"The creature was old, although it was more accurate to say that it had existed for a long time. When, at the start of all things, the primordial clouds of mind had collapsed into gods, and demons, and souls of all levels, it had been among those who had never drifted close to a major action. Currently--that is to say for the past ten thousand years, it had found work as a superstition."

- Thud

"The Summoning Dark symbol commands an entity as old as the universe. But it has no real body and very little physical strength. It can cover a million dimensions in the blink of an eye but could barely make it across the room. It works through living creatures, especially ones it finds...amenable. It found you, Commander, a cauldron of anger."

- Thud

"The dwarfs had one name for it: the Summoning Dark. And they had any amount of explanations for what it was: a demon, a lost god, a curse, a blessing, vengeance made flesh, except that it had no flesh other than the flesh it borrowed, a law unto itself, a killer but sometimes a protector, or something no one could find the right words for."

- Snuff

Vimes Confronts the Summoning Dark (spoilers for Thud)

[the Summoning Dark, upon first possessing Vimes] "The creature swam through a mind. It had seen thousands of minds since the universe began, but there was something strange about this one.

It looked like a city. Ghostly, wavering buildings appeared through a drizzle of midnight rain. of course, no two minds are alike..."

- Thud

[A battle inside Vimes' mind] "But it had been so close! It had saved the creature, it was getting through, it was beginning to have control...and now this...

In the darkness of the inner city, above the rustle of the never-ending rain, it heard the sound of boots approaching.

A shape appeared in the mist.

It drew nearer.

Water cascaded off a metal helmet and an oiled leather cloak as the figure stopped and, entirely unconcerned, cupped its hands in front of its face and lit a cigar.

Then, the match was dropped on the cobbles, where it hissed out, and the figure said, 'Who are you?'

The entity stirred, like an old fish in a deep pool. It was too tired to flee.

'I am the summoning dark.' It was not, in fact, a sound, but had it been, it would have been a hiss. 'Who are you?'

'I am the Watchman.'

'They would have killed his family! The darkness lunged and met resistance. 'Think of the deaths they have caused! Who are you to stop me?'

'He created me. Quit custodiet ipsos custodes? Who watches the watchmen? Me. I watch him. Always. You will not force him to murder for you.'

'What kind of human creates his own policeman?'

'One who fears the dark.' "

- Thud

"And then...you disappointed it. Commander. You disappointed it. Or perhaps impressed it. It’s hard to tell. You wouldn’t strike the helpless, you see. You resisted. I had the sergeant here bring you down because I was frightened that the struggle inside would rip the tendons free from your bones.

[...]

It appears to have let you go. I wonder why? Historically, anyone subject to the Summoning Dark dies insane."

- Thud

Vimes' Continued Relationship with the Summoning Dark

"And again, Vimes remembered the darkness and the thirst for vengeance, in fact vengeance itself made sapient and hungry. It all came back and he wished it hadn’t, because while all coppers must have a bit of a villain in them, no copper should walk around with a piece of demon as a tattoo."

- Snuff

"Vimes pulled up his shirt sleeve and there it was, and it seemed to be brighter. Sometimes he met it in dreams, where they nodded at one another in respect and then went their separate ways. Months, even years might pass between meetings and he might think it had gone for good, but its mark was on his forearm. Sometimes it itched. All in all, it was like having a nightmare on a leash."

- Snuff

I'm very excited by the opportunity that Darrow offers to do plotty things with the Summoning Dark, whether it's the Big Scary Monster kind or just the Interesting Interpersonal Relationships kind, so I welcome any and all questions or ideas!