I drifted once through London town, perhaps an age ago, perhaps was but last year. I met a mild man, a jeweler, in a shop on a forgotten street... He saw me, as I am, and he took me to dinner that eve. He spoke of many things... important things, and he bade me remember them. I have tried to do so, though many may call them but fantasies and dreams... myths and stories... or so scoff the living myths about me... So I write.

"I am not at all sure what is going on all around us, Will bach, or where it is leading. But those men who know anything of the at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or a white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of your people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else. You are like fanatics. Your masters at any rate. Like all the old Crusaders - oh, like certain groups in every belief, though this is not a matter of religion, of course. At the centre of the Light there is a cold white flame, just as at the centre of the Dark there is a great black pit as bottomless as the Universe." {Will} sighed. "I understand what you are saying," he said sadly. "But you misjudge us, because you are a man yourself. For us there is only destiny. Like a job to be done. We are simply to save the world from the Dark. Make no mistake, John, the Dark is rising, and will take the world to itself very soon if nothing stands in its way. And if that should happen, then there would be no question ever, for anyone, either of warm charity or of cold absolute good, because nothing would exist in the world or in the hearts of men except that bottomless black pit. The charity and the mercy and the humanitarianism are for you, they are the only things by which men are able to exist together in peace. But in this hard case that we in the Light are in, confronting the Dark, we can make no use of them. We are fighting a war. We are fighting for life or death - not for our life, remember, since we cannot die. For yours. Sometimes," Will said slowly, "in this sort of war, it is not possible to pause, to smooth the way for one human being, because even that small thing could mean an end of the world for all the rest." (John Rowlands and Will Stanton, The Grey King, Susan Cooper)

"The Light is a strong lord, a great king, and often a demanding master, though a kind one. The Light is eager for servants and friends, and will show you more things to do then you had thought could be done by any. So, at least, I have found it." (Lugh of the Long Hand, Lord of the Sidhe, to the Kinain warrior Gwalchmai, Hawk of May, Gilian Bradshaw)

"Mithras, Apollo, Arthur, Christ - call him what you will," I said. "What does it matter what men call the light? It is the same light, and men must live by it or die... the source of all the light which has lit the world... purpose runs through the world and past each one of us like a great river..." (Merlin to Uther The Crystal Cave, Mary Stewart)

The Light is, essentially, the force of all that is good in man - the mother who cradles her child, the kindly old lady who feeds the pigeons each of these is the Light. It comprises both the Wyld and the Weaver, neither is completely of the light nor completely opposed to the light.

Old Ones are ancient, immortal beings locked in the eternal war described above, a struggle against the Dark. They live as a mortal until their 11th birthday, upon which they come into their inheritance as an Old One. They are always marked by the traditional signs of the sorcerer in some way - they might be the seventh son of a seventh son or be born under a full moon on Samhain eve, for instance. Though the family doesn't know it, they are all touched as an Old One's kin.

"You are Will Stanton's brother. There is a look we old ones have. Our families have something of it too." (Stephan Stanton's letter to his brother Will, relating his curious meeting with an old West Indian man. The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper.)

"The moment you came into power on your birthday, you could speak as an Old One. And did, not knowing that you were doing so. That was how the Rider knew you, when you met him on the road-you greeted John Smith in the Old Speech, and he therefore had to answer answer you in the same, and risk being marked as an Old One himself even though the craft of the smith is normally outside allegiance. But ordinary men can speak it too-like Hawkin here, and others in this house who are not of the Circle. And the Lords of the Dark can speak it too, though never without a certain betraying accent of their own." (Merriman Lyon to Will Stanton, The Dark is Rising, Susan Cooper)

All Old Ones can naturally speak in this way, they do not need to expend effort to learn it. It can also be taught to mortals, who must learn it as they would any other language. Lords of the Dark know it as well, but as mentioned may not disguise themselves while speaking it, an accent betrays them. They have their own language as well, the Dark Tongue. A harsh language, it is seldom used aloud; an Old One may understand it, but may not speak it.

"Real? When we live in your world as you do, John, those of the Light or those of the Dark, we feel and see and hear as you do. If you prick us, we bleed, if you tickle us we laugh-only, if you poison us we do not die, and there are certain feelings and perceptions in us that are not in you. And these in the last resort have dominion over the others." (Merriman Lyon to John Rowlands, Silver on the Tree, Susan Cooper)

Old Ones cannot die unless slain by one of their own kind, only Light may destroy Light and only Dark may destroy Dark. However, all this means is that they do not die when harmed but instead simply linger, healing slowly. Iron affects Old Ones in a similar manner to fae, however it does not destroy the form of an Old One unless used by another Old One. This defense of the Old Ones extends to a lesser degree to their kin - no Lord of the Dark may directly harm an Old One's mortal kin, any such attempt would simply fail. They can, however, trick them into harming themselves... just as they can trick an Old One into harming his or herself.

"Lastly, I looked at Morgawse, and for the first time saw her without illusion: a Power wrapped in human flesh, long ago consuming the mind that had invoked it. A dark Power, a queen of Darkness. She had summoned it as a servant for her hate, had welcomed its control when she controlled it, and everyday became more it and less herself. A Power that drank life and hope and love like wine. Ancient beyond words, evil beyond thought, hideous despite its beauty, the creature stood there and gazed on me with a black insatiable hunger." (Gwalchmai, Hawk of May, Gilian Bradshaw)

"But always the Dark was there, swelling and waning, gaining a new Lord of the Dark whenever a man deliberately chose to be changed into something more dread and powerful than his fellows. Such creatures were not born to their doom, like the Old Ones, but chose it. The Black Rider he saw in all times from the beginning." (From the Book of Gremarye, The Dark is Rising Susan Cooper)

Just as the Light is found in the Weaver and the Wyld so too is the Dark. Indeed, the 'winter' that the Fae fear is in fact simply the Rising of the Dark. There are obviously many creatures of the Dark in the world but these are only creatures of the Dark, its often unwitting servants.

True Lords of the Dark are few and far between, they may only be created by another Lord of The Dark, and the process is dangerous so many fail to survive the transformation. Among some of the better known of the Lords of the Dark - the Grey King (the Brenin Llwyd) of Cader Idris in Wales, The White Rider (or Morgan Le Fey or Morgawse), Aldwulf Fflamddyn, wizard of the Saxons, and Arawn, the Black Rider. The Lords of the Dark are more numerous than the Old Ones, but not overwhelmingly so.

"They are not common warriors." Gwydion added, seeing Rhuns puzzled expression, "but an evil brotherhood. Slay one of their band, and the strength of the others grows that much greater." (Gwydion, Prince of Don, speaking to his companions about Arawn's Huntsmen. The High King, Lloyd Alexander)

The Huntsmen of Arawn: Arawn's Huntsmen are a band of Unseelie Redcap warriors, sworn to the Dark and each other by a profane oath of great power. When one of their number is slain, the others grow that much stronger.

"...black fiends who murder and kill and eat the flesh of human beings. The fiends are hairy and loathsome to touch and smell; they are fierce and cunning; they speak no language of any man and yet they communicate among themselves; they come with the night fog and disappear by day - to where no man durst follow." (The 13th Warrior, Michael Crichton)

The Wendol: Powerful warriors, they are said to look almost as bears. They once haunted the moors and fjords of the northern lands.

The Milgwn: Great grey foxes that serve the Grey King on his mountain of Cader Idris. They are mortal creatures but they have a touch of glamour to them, and can work some cantrips.

The Gwythaints: Large, vulture like chimera that serve the Dark as messengers and spies throughout the Dreaming Realms. They are not wise and wield no cantrips, but are vicious and fierce fighters.

"The Land is neither of the Dark nor the Light, nor ever was. Its enchantment was of a separate kind, the magic of the mind and the hand and the eye, that owes no allegiance because it is neither good nor bad. It has no more to do with the behavior of men, or the great absolutes of the Light and the Dark, than does the blossom of a rose or the curving leap of a fish." (Gwion the Bard, speaking of the Lost Land to Will Stanton and Bran Davies the Pendragon. Silver on the Tree, Susan Cooper)

It would, of course, pain them to know it but despite the beliefs of most fae Banality is not of the Dark, but rather the magic of the Weaver, neither Light nor Dark. It is of the Magic of Making, the work of the harpist, the crafter, the smith and the engineer.The Dark has worked hard to corrupt, not the Magic of Making itself, which is incorruptable, but rather its wielders who may freely choose for whom the wield their arts.

"The Wild Magic has neither allies nor enemies." Merriman said coldly. "This you know. If you may not help us, yet it is not right for you to hinder us either, for in so doing you give aid to the Dark. And if the Greenwitch keeps that which it has found, the Dark will be very much strengthened." "A poor argument," Tethys said. "You mean simply that the Light will then fail to gain an advantage. But I am not permitted to help either Light or Dark to gain any advantage... You speak deviously, my friend." (Merriman Lyons and Tethys, Greenwitch, Susan Cooper)

"I am the Greenwitch," the voice said wearily. "I am made for the sea, I am of the sea. I can do nothing for you" The voice said "You are of the Dark. I feel it. I am not permitted to have any dealings with either the Dark or the Light. It is the Law" (the Greenwitch to a man of the Dark. Greenwitch Susan Cooper)

"...the rage of those who are a part of the Wild Magic is not a good thing to bring out. The village bore it, the village has been possessed..." (The Greenwitch to Jane Drew, Greenwitch Susan Cooper)

There is, of course, the Wyld. The Wild Magic is the magic of the earth and the creatures of the earth.It is outside the domain of the High Magic. The ultimate power of the Wyld is found in clear, running water which will tolerate no taint of magic and will wash away all enchantments it touches save those of the Wild and those carefully designed to control it. The fae were once of the Wyld magic, but they Chose, and become as Men. The magic of the Wyld was often harnessed in days past on Holy days, the Days of Power. Then, when the magic of the Wyld and the magic of the Weaver were harnessed in twain, the High Magic was formed... Magic that the Light or the Dark could wield...