Black Lodge

The Black Lodge was a dimension and organisation, one of the foremost forces of evil in the universe. The origins of the Black Lodge are somewhat mysterious. Most attribute the creation of the Black Lodge to the demon king Chernabog, also known as the Black Thing or the Dark One in his more incomprehensible forms. Chernabog is said to have created the Black Lodge as part of his effort to restore reality to its primal nonexistent state. He viewed the shadow of oblivion as superior to the light of existence and sought to roll it back. However, Chernabog also wished to punish those who ruined the 'perfection' of oblivion and thus made it so those legions that followed him in the Lodge proper would feed off of human misery and suffering. Of course, this is just one potential account of the origins of the Black Lodge. Nyarlathotep and his acolytes the Chaos Gods have also been accused of being behind the creation of the Black Lodge as a tool to further their ends. The existence of the counterpart the White Lodge led some to conclude that the Black Lodge simply exists to embody evil and came into being with the universe, along with the conceptions of good embodied by the White Lodge. The creation of the Lodges could be attributed to a variety of figures—the Lord of Nightmares, the Black and White Guardians or the Forces of Law and Chaos being commonly attributed sources for them both.

Whatever the origin, the influence of the Black Lodge was significant. The Black Lodge drew a number of followers in the material world to aid them in achieving their aims. The earliest known acolyte of the Black Lodge was the dark lord Morgoth, who terrorised Europe in the Hyborian Age. Morgoth was an immensely powerful figure and his acolyte Sauron likewise sought to spread the darkness of the Black Lodge before he was defeated by his enemies. While he was the first, he would be far from the last follower of the Black Lodge to terrorise the world. These figures could vary considerably in nature. The Order of Aurelius was formed by vampiric worshippers of the beings of the Black Lodge and sought to subjugate humanity to please them. The Black Lodge took great joy in corrupting people into vicious murderers-Leland Palmer, Michael Myers, Johann Liebert and Oh Sangwoo were but a fraction of those whom were, wittingly or unwittingly, led to kill on behalf of the Lodge. A number of history's evil magicians were acolytes of the Black Lodge as well, including Kulan Gath, Koschei the Deathless and according to some accounts Mordred. Arawn Death-Lord, a widely feared necromancer, also is believed to have been a devotee of the Black Lodge. Many infamous dark magicians and evil witches have also been at least part-time devotees of the Black Lodge, including the Sanderson sisters, Amos Hacksaw and Pacha Camac. Their reach was not limited to Earth either, with their servants in the stars including the Shadow Galactica, the Sith and the Shadows.

The Black Lodge additionally sent residents of their realm to the world to corrupt it. The entity known as Pitch Black, for instance, was sent to corrupt the Shinto gods when they faced extinction at the hands of industrialisation in Japan. The infamous Randall Flagg was long associated with various kinds of demons or even Nyarlathotep himself, but was in fact a servant of the Black Lodge sent to the Earth to terrorise the place. The species known as Minions are thought to have originated from the Black Lodge, though they took on a will of their own that has drifted away from the goals of the Black Lodge. The shapeshifting spider known as Pennywise in its most notable incarnation was another servant dispatched to the mortal plane to carry out the Lodge's bidding. Another species that is thought to have originated from within the Black Lodge are the Weeping Angels, a race of beings that fed off of futures that are aborted when they transport people to points in the past. The primary argument for their origins as servants of the Black Lodge is their feeding off of detrimental impacts they have and their otherwise mysterious nature. However, these claims have not been confirmed and may in fact be unable to be confirmed. The forces of the Black Lodge were also capable of feats of necromancy, with results ranging from the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel and the vengeful spirit of Elly Kenward to the serial killer Jason Voorhees and the reanimated Deadite hordes that at times terrorised the world.

The inhabitants of the Black Lodge were shrouded in mystery in part owing to the apparent lack of clear temporal or dimensional boundaries for the Black Lodge and its inhabitants. Nonetheless some elements have been discerned. Within the Black Lodge were two powerful entities that may be the de facto rulers: the Scarlet (or Crimson) King and the King in Yellow. Both were generally malevolent, but at times warred with each other for dominance within the Black Lodge. The Scarlet/Crimson King was associated with the color red and had a number of cults active on Earth. Many who encountered the Scarlet/Crimson King associated the Black Lodge with red rather than the typical black. The King in Yellow was not as flashy as the Scarlet/Crimson King, preferring to manipulate the world from the shadows rather than establish clear cults. Immediately below the Kings were the Lords in Black—5 entities claiming to be deities with powers over aspects of reality. Beneath the Lords were a number of demonic beings who can interact with the world via dreams and possession of humans. The being known as BOB was one of the most notorious of these beings, but others existed as well. The dream-walking serial killer Freddy Krueger was in fact a former prisoner of the Black Lodge who was granted powers after becoming a servant of theirs. Other examples of these inhabitants include the Obsidian Lord, Art the Clown, the Cenobites, the Babadook, the Violencia and the Voidbringers. The entity known as the End of the Cycle, responsible for bringing ruin on a galactic scale, has been alleged to be the joint creation of the Black Lodge's two kings, though this remains unconfirmed.

The Black Lodge was not without opposition. Some of this opposition came from within the Lodge itself. The entity known as The Giant and the lone sister of the Lords of Black were two beings who originated with the Black Lodge and ended up defecting to the White Lodge. The White Lodge, ruled by Maturin the Space Turtle, was the main hub of opposition to the actions of the Black Lodge. The White Lodge operated in parallel to the Black Lodge in many respects, having its own chosen champions work to challenge the Black Lodge's servants in their efforts to corrupt the world. These champions included Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which, the Ellimist, the Skull Knight and Zordon all of whom worked to advance the White Lodge against the Black Lodge's own chosen champions. They enjoyed several triumphs over the years-most notably totally taking control of the afterlife realms dubbed 'the Good Place' and 'the Bad Place' by inhabitants the two lodges had nominally cooperated to form. World affairs were at times been driven by this conflict-in the First World War, the White Lodge's followers on Earth under the leadership of Cyril Grey backed the Entente while the Black Lodge's aligned dark magicians under Heinrich Kemmler supported the Central Powers. The propensity of the Black Lodge to challenge the laws of time meant they often run afoul of those seeking to maintain a clear and consistent timeline. The Time Lords were often opposed to the Black Lodge prior to the Time War and the Time Baby also frequently warred with the Black Lodge. Not all dark entities were aligned with the Black Lodge either. The being known as the Slender Man was known to fight with entities of a known origin in the Black Lodge, despite also being generally malevolent. The forces of Hell did not take kindly to the Black Lodge and viewed it as a threat to their plans, much like the Great Old Ones. The would-be Antichrist Damien Thorn at one point sought to carry out a ritual to cut the Black Lodge off from Earth before being thwarted by the Black Lodge servitor Slappy, a particularly humiliating event for Thorn as Slappy was an animate ventriloquist dummy. The Black Lodge also often struggled with the beings known as the Ancient Ones, who had their followers carry out ritual sacrifice using similar forces as the Black Lodge, but sought entertainment above suffering. The Ancient Ones often helped their followers bind Black Lodge-connected entities to follow their rituals, thus putting them at odds with the more sadistic Black Lodge.