Darkness
The seventh and final element of Aserra is Darkness. It exists in symbiosis with Light, though they are often at odds with each other. Darkness includes dark, shadows, sometimes “void”, and similar concepts. It is ruled over Ispa, the Goddess of Darkness and twin sister of Idraen. The plane of darkness, exists within the sixth level Aserra’s “hell”, the Seven Infernal Chambers of Malbolge, just as the light plane is within Zephaer. Dark spirits known as Shades are the elemental spirits of Darkness, and the source of souls for Ispa’s race, the Danaij, a race of black-skinned Dark Elementalists. Demons are also aligned with Darkness, as are Black Dragons, which are descended of Ispa’s dragon Alaas’th. The Forsaken Land is a place ruled by Darkness on the Prime Material Plane.
Those aligned with the element of Darkness can sometimes be considered evil, but darkness is not interchangeable with evil. A Dark individual may have virtuous goals, but their ways of attaining them will not likely be the same as someone aligned with Light. Yet, dark elementals are often drawn to “sin”, and can easily fall victim to wrath, lust, gluttony, greed, envy, vanity, or sloth. They are typically cunning, manipulative, and deceptive. Their ethics are often a personal set, defined by their needs. Black is the color associated with Darkness, but dark violet is also acceptable and a covert signal.
