Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (1899) is a novella by Polish-English novelist Joseph Conrad about a narrated voyage up the Congo River into the Congo Free State in the so-called "heart of Africa". Charles Marlow, the narrator, tells his story to friends aboard a boat anchored on the River Thames. This setting provides the frame for Marlow's story of his obsession with the ivory trader Kurtz, which enables Conrad to create a parallel between what Conrad calls "the greatest town on earth", London, and Africa as places of darkness.
Books of Swords
The Dark King, known also as Vilkata, is one of the chief antagonists of the series. Vilkata is a powerful sorcerer and master of many demons. He will do anything to gain an upper hand over his enemies; as a younger man he gouged out his own eyes as a sacrifice in order to gain the power required to get revenge over those who had wronged him. Since then he uses minor demons kept in thrall to give him a bizarre form of telepathic vision. He traditionally wears black cloaks over stylized armor. He bears a ringlet of gold on his brow that keeps his long silver hair swept back. His eye sockets are empty—Vilkata wears no patches or blindfold to hide them which many find unnerving. He employs scorched earth, torture, and other deplorable tactics liberally to strike fear in any who would oppose them. Though an accomplished and feared warlock in his own right, what elevates Vilkata to a global threat is his frequent possession of the terrible Mindsword.