Card 39

Enveloping Darkness

Value: 5
Mysteries • Rats • Mirrors • Stone

Meanings: Restriction, loss, endings


Dark isn’t an absence of light. Light is an absence of darkness. Darkness is the default. It moves in to fill any place the light abandons. The Dark was the totality of the Actuality before the sun(s) existed. And according to many, the Dark will be the totality again, once the sun(s) are gone. The darkness is the end. It takes things. It takes us. It grabs, constricts, and overwhelms everything not warded by the light.


Divination: The Enveloping Darkness portends an ending. Something draws quickly to a close. Endings aren’t always bad, though, so this card turn can bring relief as an affliction or problem comes to an end. The card can also mean restriction or denial. The tendrils of the Enveloping Darkness can hold us fast and keep us from doing what we want—an end to freedom, so to speak. This card does not suggest death for the person in question, but it can suggest the death of someone involved in the matter at hand.

Game Narrative: Something significant happens (or will happen) at night. An NPC dies. An important object is lost. People are trapped or otherwise prevented from moving freely.

Joy: Some unwanted condition or spell afflicting the PC comes to an end. The PC’s enemies are temporarily held at bay.

Despair: Something restricts or hinders the PC’s movement. An NPC close to the PC dies.


He was so afraid of the darkness beneath his bed, he neglected the darkness outside his window.