The Virgin of Byzantium

Commentary by S. Stacia Pakharev,
Dark Historian

There lived a virgin in Byzantium. Someone wished her evil and cursed her. Wherever she trod, bad luck lurked over her head. She took a candle and the candle died down. She petted a puppy and the puppy died. A bird that ate from her hand fell to the ground. In the houses she visited, children died. So intense was this curse that a vortex formed around her; darkness came and ravaged the city. Warriors stepped from this dark, Who called themselves the Warriors of the Darkness. And among the people who stepped out, there were also those Who called themselves the Warriors of Light. And so the great battle between Dark and Light began, but neither could win for they were equally matched. A truce was called to put an end to the fighting. The balance will hold until a man emerges, Who is fated to become the Great One. If he takes the side of Light, the Light wins. But those who know the truth say he'd choose the Dark, For it's easier to kill the Light in oneself Than to scatter the Darkness.

Commentary:

This is the legend of the Virgin of Byzantium as I recollect it. A similar version is preferred by Geser, director of Moscow’s Night Watch, who first told it to me when I was an initiate, before I chose to be a Dark One. Many other versions have been passed along through the centuries, by Others and humans alike. It is my belief Others of both affiliations should take notice of the legend, not only for its’ implications, but for the historical value evident in the way the story came to be known to us.

While I can’t say for certain where the story comes from or how it spread, I do believe human folklore deserves credit for preserving the tale. Since the signing of the Great Treaty in the 14th Century, Others have maintained a strict separation from their human counterparts. The story clearly refers to Others yet betrays a lack of insight into Our world and I firmly believe a human originally composed it. We all accept that the time before the Great Treaty was different, but how much did humans really know about Others even then? Is it possible we can gain insight into our own past by studying human folklore and legend?

In my analysis, I do believe Geser himself added the last few lines to the story, but he would not return my phone calls to confirm or deny these suspicions. The last few words moved me greatly when I first heard them, so I decided to include them here, regardless of whether or not he intended them to be a part of the story. None of the Dark Ones I contacted would comment or contribute to my telling of the legend, though Zavulon himself seemed at least somewhat familiar with the prophecy at the end.

The last few lines read more prophetically then the rest of the story, which suggests the events surrounding the Virgin happened in the past, at the time of the Great Battle, but also foreshadow future events. Without being too forward or contacting a seer, I propose that the events described here did happen historically, at least in part, but the ending indicates the events will again come to pass in some way, heralding the continuation of the Battle between Light and Dark.