Shadows And Vampires: How The Myrk Maiden’s Sorcerer Society Was Born
This article was written on Sep. 30th, 2022, and may not be replicated and re-posted elsewhere under another author’s name.
Vampires.
These beautiful blood thieves are some of the most prolific and legendary mythical creatures to grace entertainment. Their powers are potent—and extensive—and readers of the Myrk Maiden Trilogy may find themselves questioning how much inspiration was leached from these undead parasites and injected into Charpentier's shadowy Sharavaks.
Do read on, because I do tell!
In reality, little of what I create in my fictional worlds is ever wholly inspired by one singular thing. Thus, while the Sharavaks, or Shadows, of the Myrk Maiden series exhibit plenty of vampiric powers and tendencies, they were not directly inspired by vampires. Before I explain the logic behind my illogic, let's sink our teeth into the obvious similarities:
Pale skin - Sharavaks are distinguishable by exceptionally white, unblemished skin. Most of them, depending on their degree of baine composition, are unable to blush. Translation: don't tell them to "get a tan"; they will resent and probably kill you.
Nocturnal nature - these devious devourers of flesh and energy are shadowy in more than name. Sharavaks prefer the cool peace of night over the harshness of daylight, as it enables them to hunt more efficiently and contradicts the Light God's natural order. Rebellion against the natural order brings Sharavaks into closer communion with the Myrk God.
Bloodlust - cannibals and creatures with unnatural appetites, Sharavaks thoroughly enjoy a tall glass of... er... not red wine.
Heightened senses - Sharavaks can taste, smell, and "feel" many things, from emotions, to heartbeats, and even the different elements of one's blood. These animalistic qualities ensure they never have a boring meal or physical encounter.
Seduction - alluring and self-gratifying by nature, the average Sharavak intuitively understands human intimacy and seeks to exploit, manipulate, and enjoy it, preferably through hapless humans who are in wonder of their wiles. Sharavaks can entice humans—especially men—with ease, using their magic, supernatural gifts, and cunning to make a night one won't forget... until they're dead shortly afterward.
Lovely little liars - as is stated in Daughter Darkness (Book #1), Sharavaks are "fluent in the language of lies." To master seduction of any kind, one must be equipped with a silver tongue, or in this case, a Shadowy tongue. Sharavaks effortlessly lie because they worship the Myrk God, who specializes in lies.
Dark magic - many vampires can wield dark, shadowy power of some kind, and it's no different for the Sharavaks. Valdur, you euphoric entrapment, I'm looking at you.
Stealth and agility - Sharavaks are hunters. Vampires are hunters. Your dad might be a hunter. And what do hunters usually need besides a good gun or bow (or set of teeth)? Stealth. Silence. And some slick, silky moves. That is precisely what the Sharavaks use to steal lives.
Transformative powers - like werewolves, vampires can also shape-shift, but vampires usually take varied forms. Sharavaks also transform into dark beasties.
Strength - don't try arm-wrestling a Sharavak unless you've got gangrene. In that case, enjoy your free amputation.
Beauty - Sharavaks are gorgeous. Even the less-lovely ones can look that way if you listen to them talk long enough. You'll never find a Kim K. or Brad Pitt who compares.
Vitality theft - it's a misconception that Sharavaks can plunder your soul—that power belongs to one entity, and one entity only—but what they can do is ravage your residue. This is the energy you emit/leave behind during and minutes after death, before rigor mortis sets in. It's contained in the tiny twitches and spasms your flesh experiences before you finally turn into just an inanimate "thing." This "residue" is both spiritual and physical, and it is akin to a vampire draining one's "life force."
Whew. Okay. That's a lengthy list of comparisons, and surely too many to discount the idea that I cut my teeth on vampires when writing this story, right?
Not quite.
I have never been an A to B thinker. Rather, I am more like A to Z... and then Z back to Q... and Q to A, then A to Z again, and... you get the idea.
The term "brain-storming" is the most accurate picture of what's going on in my head when I create. It is seldom a simple process where advancement is linear and progress follows a point-by-point system. Instead, for me, it is chaotic and characterized by plucking vaguely related things from the storm's spiraling center and assembling these items into something new—but still interconnected.
As intriguing as vampire lore is to me, I usually compound common stereotypes or characteristics in the world with other ideas and things. The Sharavaks, while quite vampire-like, were never intended to be carbon copies of their Count Dracula-esque cousins. Before I reveal what those other inspirations are, let's dissect the Sharavak-vampire similarities and discuss where they differ!
Pale skin - not all Sharavaks are void of melanin. Low-level Sharavaks, those who lack significant magical power and bainic genetics, can blush and have more human-like hues. However, even these fellows are still "frightfully pale."
Nocturnal nature - Sharavaks may resent daylight and your insensitive suggestions to "get a tan," but their nocturnal preference is actually just that—a preference. They won't melt or wither to dust if sunlight touches them. It doesn't physically damage them to exist during the day. What it does do is offend them, and it complicates their hunting schedules, rituals, and other decidedly not-wholesome activities. Things usually "go bump in the night" because darkness conceals them and it makes their prey more vulnerable to attack. Darkness is comforting because it doesn't expose or challenge those who dwell in it, unlike the sun, which reigns over the labor-intensive, activity-filled portion of the day. Ultimately, Shadows resent light, which is exactly what the sun provides.
Bloodlust - it is implied that vampires subsist solely on blood because they cannot process whole foods. (Or is blood, like milk, technically a "food"?) Sharavaks don't share this problem. Like their nocturnal schedules, they choose to consume blood because it satisfies them and allows them to perform that residue-ravaging thing on their victims. Blood fulfills a spiritual wrongness, as well, as consuming it is against the natural order since a creature's life is contained in it. Finally, blood consumption and infusion into beauty products enhances and sustains youth. However, despite all these things, Sharavaks can still enjoy and digest any other edible thing perfectly well. Canonically, I'm going to say that they could probably process Taco Bell better than your average Joe. That's what inhumanity gets you—more cheesy bean and rice burritos!
Stealth and agility - Sharavaks are not nearly as nimble as their nifty undead friends. They can't really scale walls, clear fifty-foot chasms, or crawl upside down along the ceiling. I know. I'm boring. But I wanted to cap their power to ensure they wouldn't be "OP." I don't think anyone wants to see what an enraged Twilight would do if she had, er, Twilight-level abilities. (You're absolutely ungodly, Isabella Swan!)
Transformative powers - as mentioned above, vampires can usually assume different forms. They commonly turn into bats, but the lore doesn’t limit them to this. Sharavaks, on the other hand, only take one unique shape, and it's more along the lines of a Komodo dragon's illicit love affair with a werewolf than anything else. But don't tell them that. (It'll be the last mistake you make.)
Strength - sure, the average Sharavak can rip your arm off at no monetary expense. But they can't do much beyond that, as their strength is found more in their magic than their muscles.
Beauty - vampires are more like an illness than a race of beings in that there's no copy-and-paste for their appearance - they just have this infectious curse they can pass along to people of any color. Sharavaks are not so diverse. All of them, save for the extremely limited—Susenne, that's you—have the same pale skin, black eyes, and black hair. Apparently, I didn't think baines cared to look like brilliant blondes or blushing brunettes very much. There's something kind of terrifying about pitch black features!
Okay, so the Sharavaks are looking pretty vampiric, but hopefully their differences speak for themselves. Now, what else did I base my magical, cannibalistic, shape-shifting sorcerer race off of?
As it turns out, several concepts.
One of the first inspirations I remember is actually from the Bible. As a child and blossoming young adult, Proverbs was (and is) one of my favorite books. It contains some powerful, no-feelings-spared warnings that ended up kindling a desire to create the Sharavaks. One of the most powerful verses behind their origin was this:
"For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey, And her mouth is smoother than oil; But in the end she is bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death, Her steps lay hold of hell. Lest you ponder her path of life— Her ways are unstable; You do not know them. Therefore hear me now, my children, And do not depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her, And do not go near the door of her house..." Proverbs 5:3-22 NKJV
In my youthful imagination, verses like this one conjured up scenes of seductive women slinking about their abodes, waiting to ensnare a man's affections, and consequently, his soul. The mention of, "Her feet go down to death, her steps lay hold of hell," was especially frightening to consider. And consider it I did.
I envisioned many naive young men with their whole lives ahead of them being brought to ruin because they couldn't resist these cunning ladies. In Daughter Darkness, similar concepts are at play, and they aren't exclusive to the Sharavak women. All Sharavaks are gifted at manipulation, again, because they worship a gilded-tongued god. Humans may not pay with their finances for a "good time," but best believe they're putting things on the line.
There’s another huge inspiration we’ve got to tackle before getting to the (slightly) smaller stuff.
One of the primary inspirations behind the Sharavaks is no creature at all, but a spiritual entity. I first saw this entity in the 2010 post-apocalyptic thriller, Vanishing on 7th Street. It was among the first horror films to terrify me to the point that I couldn't sleep. Vanishing pits its characters against devious shadow people collectively called "The Darkness," which can "vanish" victims by simply touching them.
The good news? These shadowy suckers hate light.
The Darkness's shadows cannot vanish anyone holding a source of light, be it a flashlight, glowstick, or headlamp. They also hate the sunlight, as their mere presence causes less and less daylight every day. But what's frightening about The Darkness is their supernatural status and their ability to deceive/emotionally manipulate humans into their grasp.
In the film, they entice several characters into dangerous places by manufacturing light and luring humans in with impersonated voices. Indeed, there is a strong emphasis on light and darkness in the film, which plays out symbolically in the extensive use of shadow effects and dimly-lit locations. The message quickly becomes clear to the human cast: find light or die. Also... don't trust any light that's not in your hand.
Vanishing isn't the greatest film by any stretch, but it intrigued me to the point of inspiring me when it came to my own Shadows. I marveled at their malevolence and faceless forms as they stalked through the streets, and, like Satan, "sought who they might devour." Even in lit spaces, they occupied the dark fringes where the light didn't quite touch, ever watchful and hungry for another human to drag into their dark ranks.
False light!
An additional influence was the Siren. These Greek mythology creatures frequently lured sea-faring sailors to their deaths with sweet song. I haven't written any velvet-voiced Sharavak singers, but I can imagine they exist and would use this ability like any gift they have—for not-nice purposes.
Siren
Demons are another major influence. Fallen angels are deceptive, dirty, and subtly destructive as they weave their wicked whispers into human consciences. They are adept at convincing people of things about themselves and others that are untrue.
1 John 4 says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."
My final inspirations were politicians and man-eating monsters. I did not think about specific politicians when writing the Sharavaks, but more of the idea of them and how they frequently lie and charm society. Monsters in general came into play when creating their vicious, blood-thirsty nature (especially in their beast form). I reflected on beasts like the "Demodog" from Stranger Things, Cujo from Stephen King's novel of the same name, and the Wolf from Catherine Hardwicke's Red Riding Hood for effectively capturing the Sharavaks' violent tendencies.
For the shape-shifting ability specifically, I was always fascinated by werewolves as a child, so Wolf Link from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess did inspire the Sharavos form.
From The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
The Bloody Bottom Line
To sum everything up, I guess you could boil my inspirations down to, "What if vampires were also werewolves... and demons?"
But the key to my creation process really is just connecting with multiple different concepts that have core relationships. It's about plucking and gathering, then assembling the many inspiring things you found into something unique to you.
Something with your flavor. Your style. And your specific intentions.
In this way, I believe truly passionate authors can craft exciting "new" ideas. If your inner voice is strong enough, you will be able to speak life into anything in your mind.
Thanks for reading, and happy writing!
~Alyssa Charpentier
