Darkhold

### Alternate Names

The Tablets of Chthon (predecessor texts), The Scrolls of Chthon (pre-compliation), The Bible of Black Magic,The Book of Chthon, Chthon's Dark Reflection

## Information

### Additional Contributors

* Cthonic Brotherhood/The Darkholders (transferred The Scrolls of Chthon from the Tablets of Chthon)
* Morgan Le Fay (complied Scrolls of Chthon into The Darkhold)
* Paolo Montesi (translated The Darkhold into the Libro Del Malditos, indirect translator of Book of Sins)

### Purpose

First book of dark magic, extradimensional tether of Cthon to Earth

## Related

### Associated Items

* Libro Del Malditos (imperfect Vatican copy)
* Shiatra Book of the Damned (incomplete copy, destroyed)
* The Book of Sins (imperfect MI-13 copy)

### Threat Level

Extreme

The Darkhold is among the first works of magic ever created in the history of planet Earth. Written by the Elder God Chthon, it is the collection of his dark knowledge from long, long ago. Containing many instances of black magic, it is a very powerful and dangerous relic. Additionally, it serves as his main link over into Earth after his banishment. As such, all but the strongest of individuals can use the tome without succumbing to the corruptive influence of Chthon.

## Powers and Capabilities

The Darkhold is among the first works of magic ever created in the history of planet Earth. Written by the Elder God Chthon, it is the result of his countless experiments in defying the natural order into his vile ends and twisting matter, life and forces into his malevolent will. Featuring countless spells, formulas, and rituals of the foulest kind, the Darkhold is considered one of the most dangerous magical relics in existence. Most notably, the existence of the Darkhold serves as the primary tether and conduit of the Elder God Chthon into the Earth-realm after his banishment. As such, all but the strongest of individuals can use the tome without succumbing to the corruptive influence of Chthon.

The Darkhold is inhabited by a supernatural extradimensional homunculus created by Chthon informally known as the "Darkhold Dwarf". The Darkhold Dwarf serves as a herald of the tome and by extension Cthon and can be summoned without the book. He usually goes to persons and or groups of interesting, often enticing people with "missing" pages of the book delivered in sealed black envelopes, tempting individuals with its usage. He is also the main one in repairing the Darkhold were it to be damaged, having been created to do so after the loss of the tablets. He may also be called upon to answer questions regarding the tome or even elaborating on the rituals, if for a price. On rare occassions, he will appear to holders of the Darkhold itself or those with just pages of it to give dire warnings, if namely for pragmatic purposes.

The Darkhold's spells include but are not limited to:

* Accessing the extradimension known as Limbo
* The origins of lycanthropy and associated conditions along with creation of said entites
* The creation of vampires and related creatures
* The "Montesi Formula", an incantation that will cause extinction of all vampires.
* Conjuration, manipulation and imbuement of extradimentional force known as The Darkforce.
* Control and manipulation of the will of mortals
* Siphoning psionic energy for empowerment of self or others
* Summoning and conjuring Elder Gods and asssociated entites, including Chthon itself

## History

### Antediluvian Era

The Darkhold's true beginning started with the Tablets of Chthon. The Tablets of Chthon were created by the Elder God of the same name in his final days on Earth, a collection of all of his arcane knowledge and experiments conducted over thousands of years on indestructable stone. The Tablets served as his monument and tether before banishing himself into another realm of existence to avoid being consumed by the Demogorge, the God-Eater, created between the union of Gaea and the Demiurge. As such, the Tablets of Chthon became known as the first collection of black magic and one of the first evil relics in creation. The Tablets were guarded by the various monstrous races and abominations created by Chthon over the years, the Elder Spawn. The Elder Spawn would decline heavily over time in their conflicts against the new life forms of the planet such as the Eternals and the Deviants and later, primitive man and their protectors, including the early Gods.

The Tablets would be lost and buried deep within the Earth, but the knowledge within them would be transcribed into the Scrolls of Chthon by the Brotherhood of Chthon, a formal organization descending from some of the first proto-cults who worshipped Chthon.  Among the incidents involved with the Tablet was the creation of vampires through an Atlantean sorcerer known as Varnae. The Tablets would be lost in The Great Catalclysm that would see Atlantis sink in the waves and the collapse of Lemuria. The Scrolls of Chthon were locked away and hidden in an underground chamber before the Catalclysm.

### Postdiluvian Era

#### Medieval Age

The power of the Tablets would eventually be discovered by the dark sorceress Morgan Le Fay when she was guided by the first known sighting of the "Darkhold Dwarf" in her pursuit of power. Discovering most of the scrolls, she was seduced by their power and thus complied all of the dark magicks from the scrolls into one all encompassing tome... The Darkhold. With the Darkhold in her possession, she would use its dark power to try and wage war against Merlin & King Arthur himself. However, when Merlin would become Sorcerer Supreme, he would be able to overwhelm and defeat Morgan Le Fay. Banished from Avalon, she and her followers would attempt to summon Chthon, only for his power to bring horror and terror onto the sorceress. Realizing she invoked a terrible power, she tried vanishing him to no avail. She could only bind the partially-summoned spirit over in the "most southern mountains", that being Mt. Wundagore over in the region of Cartpathian Ruthenia. The book itself would be stolen by her former lover, Magnus, and sealed away in a tower and under a powerful magic to keep those of evil intentions away.

However, this would not be enough as a well-intentioned mystic named Modred found the tower, hoping to try and use the Darkhold's power for good. Unfortunately, the magic of the book would lash out at him, rendering him in a deathlike slumber and unleashing the Darkhold once more, during what would be called the Middle Ages. However, the book would in pieces, scattered in different pages, yet bound by a malevolent force seeking to rebuild itself. The Darkhold's notoriety in the premodern world started in 1149 when Aelfric, a mad monk, was driven to recreate the book through the Scrolls of Cthon, only to be burned at the stake. However, in 1150, a former colleague of his in Paolo Montesi would stumble on the Scrolls of Cthon and would be assigned to transcribing them into a guide known as the "Book of Sins", with the hopes of being able to seal the knowledge away forever. Paolo would achieve fame for being granted special dispensation to marry and start a family to help guard the book. While Paolo would be killed by Varnae, his legacy would continue on, to where his family line would create the "Montesi Formula", a powerful mathematical spell that could be used to destroy any and all vampires.

Eventually, through using the "Book of Sins", the original Darkhold itself would be found and kept in maximum security. However, the vampire known as Dracula would have a thief try to steal the book, featful of the Montesi Formula. Instead, the thief would be intercepted by the sorcerer who called himself Cagliostro, using the book to make a potion of immortality through vampire blood. The book would be lost soon after.

However, pages of the Darkhold would appear to various individuals across the centuries into the modern era. Visionary scientist Herbert Edgar Wyndham disappeared in pursuit of it in the turn of the century. Nazi Germany considered a top priority in trying to locate and secure the item, believing it a major key in winning the war and reshaping the world into their means, though to no avail. Even after the war, major organizations with investments in the occult would try and locate the tome, but to no avail.