Bran cult and the Dark Man (2)

The Bran cult secretly worships the Dark Man (2), a statue of the ancient Pictish king, Bran Mak Morn. [REH Dark (online text)]

In the time of Turlogh Dubh O'Brien (ca. 1000 AD), the Pictish chief Brogar explained that the statue of Bran called the Dark Man (2) was the only God the Picts had left. "It is the image of our greatest king, Bran Mak Morn, he who gathered the broken lines of the Pictish tribes into a single mighty nation, he who drove forth the Norseman and Briton and shattered the legions of Rome, centuries ago. A wizard made this statue while the great Morni yet lived and reigned, and when he died in the last great battle, his spirit entered into it. It is our god." [REH Dark (online text)]

The statue was of some dark stone, five feet high, and astonishingly lifelife. The king was depicted without crown, clad only in a loincloth. Only a friend may safely touch the statue. The Dark Man was kept on the Isle of the Altar, near the Scottish mainland. Its high priest was called Gonar. [REH Dark (online text)]

Once the image was stolen by a lesser priest named Grok, but his party was pursued by Vikings and slain on the Isle of Swords. Turlogh O'Brien found the statue and took it to Helni, sensing that it would bring him luck on his mission to save Moira O'Brien. Turlogh found the statue surprisingly light, but later two tall Vikings could barely carry it, and injured themselves in the process. After the Dark Man apparently aided O'Brien in combat against Thorfel the Fair, the statue was retrieved by Brogar and his band of Picts. They planned to return it to the Isle of the Altar. [REH Dark (online text)]

In the 19th century, Von Junzt claimed that the Bran cult survives to modern times. More recently (ca. 1920s-1930s), Prof. Kirowan was skeptical of this cult survival, but his acquaintance Clemants mentioned a college roommate who talked of the Bran cult in his sleep. The student mentioned the king who rules the Dark Empire, which was a revival of an older, darker empire dating back into the Stone Age. The Dark Empire might be another name for the Bran cult. Possibly there is a living cult leader who is regarded as the current king. Once in their lifetime, each cult member visits a great, nameless cavern to see the Dark Man. [REH Children (online text)] Possibly this cavern is on the Isle of the Altar, unless the Dark Man was moved after the time of Brogar.

Contrast with: Dark Man (1).

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