Old Creatures
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The Old Creatures are enigmatic, benevolent, god-like entities which appear in Bec, the fourth instalment of Darren Shan's Demonata series. They are also mentioned briefly on two occasions in Demon Thief, the second installment of the series.
The exact origins of the Old Creatures are uncertain: Drust states that "Some say they came from the stars. Others say they are the stars, or at least their worldly forms". In Demon Thief, Lord Loss claims that the Old Creatures came to Earth from the stars, supporting the former of these two theories. However, in Bec, while discussing the impending arrival of the Demon Masters with Drust, the Old Creatures refer to Earth as "Your Universe". This suggests that they may in fact be extra-dimensional in origin, like the Demonata.
The Old Creatures are apparently responsible for the creation of all life on Earth, human, animal and otherwise. No one is exactly sure why they did this; Drust claims that they may have been conducting an experiment of some sort, but admits that this is mere speculation. For many thousands of years, they prevented any attacks by the Demonata, protecting their mortal creation from harm by otherworldly forces. Later, when the human race evolved to the point of sentience, the Old Creatures communicated with them, teaching those who wished to learn about magic. They also made these humans aware of the threat posed by the Demonata, and of how to fight the demons. Those whom they taught eventually became the first druids.
The Old Creatures are mentioned repeatedly throughout Bec, although they appear only once in the book. When they speak, Bec describes their voices as warm and comforting, containing all the accents she has ever heard. She also claims that their words are "both loud and soft. Lyrical and flat". Every word which they speak is capitalised, regardless of its position in the sentence, or whether it as proper noun.
[edit] Role in the Series
For reasons which are never made absolutely clear, the Old Creatures began to leave the Earth several centuries prior to the events of Bec, returning to wherever they originally came from. Several theories have been voiced about the reasons behind the departure of the Old Creatures: Beranabus and Drust both suggest that they had to leave because humans had reached a certain point in their development which enabled them to continue to evolve and develop without further assistance. Drust believes that the Old Creatures may have created other worlds prior to Earth, and that their departure from this world was part of their system when creating such worlds: "They (the Old Creatures) give birth, help us through our infancy, then move on, perhaps returning somewher far in the future to see how we've fared".
Without the magical protection of the Old Creatures, the world then became vulnerable to attack by the Demonata. Because, in general, demons could only cross if summoned by humans, and only for brief periods of time so that they could not kill very many people, they did not pose a threat to the human race as whole. However, tunnels were occassionally created which could allow vast numbers of demons to cross for as long as they pleased. All of these tunnels were closed before any demon masters could cross, thereby preventing the complete decimation of mankind, however the remaining Old Cratures claim that the Demonata, being creatures of pure magic, will eventually defeat and destroy humanity, no matter how many times they are twarted.
At the time of Bec, only a few dozen of the Old Creatures remain on Earth. They reside in an underwater cave, and appear as shifting masses of energy on tall stone pillars engraved with mystical writings. They are unable to leave this cave, as their magic is quickly fading. They will soon be left with no other option to rejoin their fellows, and appear to be simply awaiting the inevitable in as restful a way as possible. When Brude opens a tunnel to the Demonata's realm, allowing vast hoards of demons to rampage across Ireland, killing hundreds in the process, Drust and Bec consult these Old Creature about how to close the tunnel. The Old Creatures reveal that they were not aware of the Demonata's arrival on Earth, but claim that they had expected such an incursion sooner or later. They reveal the location of the tunnel to Drust, who claims that it can be reached by eight days of hard marching. However, when they concentrate, the Old Creatures sense that the demon masters are very close to crossing, and will be able to do so two days and two nights from that time. Drust is dismayed, but they urge hm to still be hopeful in spite of the odds. At Bec's request, they tell her that Drust intends to sacrifice her in order to close the tunnel. Drust and Bec then depart from the cave, and the Old Creatures do not appear again in that book.
[edit] Remaining Vestiges of the Old Creatures
Very few remnants of the Old Creatures' magic survive on Earth after their departure, however the following sites and objects are mentioned over the course of the series as having beeg created by them:
In Demon Thief:
- Beranabus credits them with the building of Newgrange, a megalithic tomb in Ireland.
- A large, magical board upon which are an equal proportion of black and white squares. This board was given to the early druids by the Old Creatures, for an unknown reason. Its squares magically contain entire Universes, however, over time, the druids forgot this, and it became the first chessboard. Following the demise of its keeper, Drust, at the end of Bec, it falls into the hands of Lord Loss, who uses it to torment Beranabus and his Disciples in Demon Thief.
In Bec:
- Rings of standing stones which protect those who stand within from being attacked by demons.
- The magical chessboard mentioned in the above paragraph.
- Various supernatural entities ( leprechauns, giants, fairies, banshees, etc), which came into existence after the Old Creatures, and thrived for a time on the remaining Old Magic. By the time of Bec, with Christianity and other new religious groups rising to power in the Eastern part of the world, these beings are all migrating Westward so as to avoid an undignified end when Christians eventually spread throughout the world.
- A jutland on the West coast of Ireland which is protected by Old Magic. Violence is impossible on this jutland, and lesser demons cannot set foot there, although demon masters can. These masters cannot commit violent acts, but they can use magic. Being on this jutland also has the effect of dramatically boosting and amplifying the power of magicians, enabling them to perform feats which would otherwise be impossible to them. Drust uses this temporary enhancement of his powers to banish Lord Loss from sight. This magic seem to work exclusively for human magicians (or perhaps exclusively for students of the Old Creatures), as evidenced by Lord Loss' inability to tap into it.
- An underwater cave where the last of the Old Creatures reside.
- An underground cave which contains a magical loadstone of immense power. Brude uses this loadstone's magic to open a tunnel to the Demonata Universe. Bec in turn uses it to close the tunnel.
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