Short stories of the Wyrd: Professor Cornelius's thoughts ...

[Nathan Caroland]

There has always been the supernatural, the strange and the unknown in the world. There has always been witches and cults and creatures that went bump in the night ... or simply bypassed the bumping and went straight to the murder and mayhem.

It's always been there, but on the fringe of society, forbidden knowledge, well hidden, or at the very least, feared. Vampires, shapeshifters, black magic practitioners, demonic entities and other things we simply never had a name for. They were there, but hidden, cautious and fearful. And for good reason!

There has also always been those that opposed the darkness that has plagued mankind through the ages. Fellowships, religious brotherhoods, ancient organizations and powerful secret societies, some which could rightly be called cults, that have controlled the information of the forbidden and hunted down the darkest dangers to humanity. With knowledge comes power, but also responsibility.

It was our task to see that dark grimoires were safely hidden away, that beasts and beings that became dangerous or made themselves known were hunted and destroyed. We were the protectors of humanity and kept dark knowledge in hands better suited and prepared.

But that was then, not now.

I blame the Internet.

And Politicians.

With the advancement of technology, computers and that blasted Internet, what was once hidden and coveted knowledge suddenly became common every day information - something that could be easily searched and precious knowledge that someone had no right or even experience in knowing was suddenly at hand!

For the Gods sakes, I found the Thule Magnius Grimoire, in full, scanned and footnoted upon that damned 'information highway', a book that I had spent over twenty years searching for, and there it was, available to anyone! Some college student in the Netherlands apparently had access to it, though shortly after the fool immolated himself with a spell from that grimoire.

Next thing you know, those without the dedication, patience or proper guidiance and caution were casting spells. It soon became an everyday occurrence as more and more knowledge was leaked, stolen and disseminated amongst the masses. We tried to stem the tide of forbidden knowledge, but it was no use. We were able to keep some of the most damning, and dangerous knowledge hidden, but entirely too much was already known and new applications were being developed almost daily.

Of course, it wasn't long after when those creatures which always crouched at the fringes of society were suddenly out in the public. Shapeshifters, blood drinkers, and some of the more human looking beings were suddenly of great interest, and suddenly it became the latest fashion to be 'different' or as the media had dubbed it, 'Wyrd'.

'The Wyrd' ... a trendy label that every newspaper, media outlet and teenage practitioner was using to describe the anything that had to do with magic or otherworldly nature. Suddenly it was 'Wyrd' this and 'Wyrd' that and people were actually having relationships with these things.

It makes me sick.

Then of course, some politician came up with the bright idea of legalizing these things. Legalizing! Making them citizens! There use to be a time when I and my cohorts would hunt these creatures and destroy them, but now, its considered murder! Lots of money must have changed hands to push that through to the law books. We still haven't managed to track who backed the transaction.

So there you have it - the world as we know it has changed over the course of nearly two decades. Magic ... excuse me, 'Wyrd' is an every day occurrence and commodity, embraced by the masses, governments and corporations. Creatures once hunted ceaselessly now mingle with humanity freely. Knowledge that should have remained hidden and protected is blatantly, without regard for consequence, published.

Of course, there is some good done with the knowledge, as much as I dislike admitting it, but for every good that is done, there are ten evils. Licensed practitioners are now part of the law enforcement as crimes of the Wyrd are now a daily occurrence.

And then of course, there are the wars ...

It is now up to my brethren and I to become the bulwark for humanity, to watch from the shadows and guide as we are able and protect when we can.

I'm not sure if its enough.

Professor J.T. Cornelius

Senior Member of the Society of Fractured Sight