Legend of the Night Man
Mythic folk hero based upon heroic legends apocalyptic
By a route obscure and lonely,
Haunted by ill angels only,
Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT,
On a black throne reigns upright,
I have reached these lands but newly
From an ultimate dim Thule—
From a wild weird clime that lieth, sublime
Out of SPACE—Out of TIME.
Summary
The legend of the Night Man is comprised of several folklore tales common to many cultures of the Post-Apocalyptic Era. The stories are based upon oral narratives derived from the ahistorical Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky. The invariant core of these numerous narratives is the tale of a lone traveler who wanders the barren wastelands of the apocalypse age. At times he is a messenger carrying news between isolated pockets of survivors. Occasionally he emerges to chastise barbarian degeneracy. In other stories he is a Promethean fire-giver, sharing the boon of forgotten technology and teaching fallen humanity how to reclaim the lost light of the Precursor world. Walking in the darkness under Cloudveil while the rest of humankind cowers within subterranean vaults and cyclopean concrete bunkers, the Night Man is the ultimate survivor, seemingly immune to the deleterious effects of Skyfire poisons. He does not fear the darkness of the Poisoned Sea and Sky; he is the master of the endless night: the Night Man.
Culture of Origin:
Various (universal)
Date of First Recording:
First century PCE
Date of Setting:
Stories range from Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky until the early 5th century PCE
Various (universal)
Date of First Recording:
First century PCE
Date of Setting:
Stories range from Age of Poisoned Sea and Sky until the early 5th century PCE
By the central seas, hail to the Night Man! Dark Treader! Lighter of Beacons! Great Architect of Renewal!
Historical Basis
The stories of the Night Man appear to be the mythologized expression of hero folklore related to the uncommon but familiar cultural experiences of wasteland wanderers. These culture heroes emerged at various times amidst all survivor groups in the early post-apocalyptic era. The Night Man character has been used as a common narrative device to embellish upon the wanderer motif to construct powerful saviour narratives which take different forms in various places and times. Considering the approximately 400-year timeline (ahistory to the early 5th century) encompassing all dated Night Man narratives, it is logical to assume that the many stories associated with the Night Man actually recount the experiences of several unnamed figures in actual history.
Local Variations
The lore of the Night Man is adapted differently for each of the various cultural contexts in which it is embedded. Among the survivor groups of Western Europa the Night Man is imagined as the herald of ancient culture heroes of myth such as Roland and King Arthur. In these tales the Night Man invites participation in a continuum of fable that extends into contemporary experience. For the steppe riders of Scythia's central plains the Night Man is deified as the Deathless Rider of Night, the mythic embodiment of their nomadic spirit and the quotidian culture of the world's high deserts.
For denizens of the Forbidden Zone the Night Man is an emissary of the dual sun gods, Mazta and Ahriman. Though the Night Man's ultimate allegiance between these contending deities is ambivalent, the Night Man of Zoner lore remains a benevolent figure much as he is represented in other Night Man narratives. To the Zoners he is a helper and teacher that aids the progress of human culture and history through the Endless Night of Poisoned Sea and Sky.
Cultural Influence
The Night Man's tales have inspired many explorers, adventurers, and technologists of the Post-Cataclysmic Era. It was the Night Man myth of the Avalon tombs that initially led a young Farid Rafik Barazan to explore the Glastonbury Crypt and begin his own adventures in search of the Precursor legacy.
Selected Textual Sources
Ages of the Sun
Annals of Skyhome
The Apokalyptikon
Bishop's Book of Prayers
The Chronicles of Yildun
History of the Capetian Kings
The Huron Codex
Journals of Akat
Life of Savaran
Polychronicon Britannica
Rook Rider Manual
Scrolls of Seven Seas
Annals of Skyhome
The Apokalyptikon
Bishop's Book of Prayers
The Chronicles of Yildun
History of the Capetian Kings
The Huron Codex
Journals of Akat
Life of Savaran
Polychronicon Britannica
Rook Rider Manual
Scrolls of Seven Seas
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