An explanation of the Carpathians and The Dark Series

I realise that I have been someone that really annoys me - someone who hasn't updated a story in ages. And I've done it to all of mine. I can only apologise. This is not exactly an update, rather an explanation of some of the characters in two stories - Shadowed Moon and Dark Ring. This information has been compiled in response to my latest review on Dark Ring (and I still cannot believe I am getting reviews so thank you so much) by Skyrere. Thank you so much for the review, and I really hope this helps clear up any confusion. Again I apologise that this is not a true update, but I promise there is one in the works, and will be up soon. If you already know all this information I apologise again for getting your hopes up, but personally I found it really helpful to go back over all the information, I hadn't realised how much I had forgotten. I really, really hope this helps. Enjoy x.

What is a Carpathian?

Many would know the term to reference a mountain range located in eastern Europe. They are the source of three rivers in the region – Dniester, Tisza and Vistula. The mountain range forms the natural border between Slovakia and southern Poland, before extending southward throughout Ukraine and then into Romania. Many ranges branch off of the Carpathians, including the East and West Beskids, the Tatra Mountains that run through Slovakia, along with the Little Carpathians, White Carpathians and South Carpathians – also known as the Transylvania Alps – that extend southwards into Romania. (Interesting Fact – The highest point in the Carpathian Mountain Range is Mt. Gerlachovkain, found in northern Slovakia. It stands at 8,711 ft. or 2,655m.)

Obviously for those who have read this far into the story, you would realise these are not the Carpathians I am talking about. The term Carpathian also references a race of beings that are not human. Although humanoid in appearance, they carry animalistic instincts that are imprinted upon them before their birth. Their very nature is to take what they believe to be theirs, hold it close, and protect is with every atom of their beings. They are a race of people that are able to control and manipulate the earth, sky, wind and water. All Carpathians have many gifts that seem otherworldly, one of with is the ability to communicate on a common mental path if they wish. Carpathians rejuvenate in the soil.

All Carpathians have the ability to heal. This is done in several ways, all depending on the severity of the wound sustained. The Ritual Healing Chants are spoken in the ancient Carpathian tongue. The more severe wounds are packs with Carpathian soil, found to be rich in healing properties, and aided with herbs. The saliva of the Carpathians can aid in healing as well. If a wound is internal or considered grave, a healer is needed to heal the wound from the inside out.

Because of their similarity to vampires (to be explained later) Carpathians take great care to acquire the habits of mortals, and they go to great lengths to ensure no mortal discovers what they are. Food is always found in kitchen cupboards, and closets are always full of clothes. Although they can regulate their body temperatures naturally, their homes are always warm from blazing fires or central heating, allowing them to also taken showers, even though they can clean their bodies with a single thought. They can hear things a human cannot. They speak to animals, as well as shapeshift into animals, mist. They can even become invisible to the eye if they choose.

Carpathians do not live with any other than their lifemate. Carpathians women and a few human women who are true psychics are the lights to the male's darkness, their lifemate, the one who completes the missing half of the male's soul. Without her, the beast that is within every male slowly grows stronger, consuming the male until there is complete darkness. The longer they exist, the harder they find it to be out in the light. Their emotions fade after two hundred years of life and they lose the ability to see in colour. Their world is grey. Until they meet their lifemate sex is a simple sharing of the body, something that also fades over time.

Many Carpathian males loose hope that they will ever find the woman that will be their salvation, leaving him with two options – to kill himself (usually by stepping into the sun which will burn him to death) or become the undead. A Vampire is a Carpathian male who has turned intentionally by taking blood, not to feed but to kill, to feel a rush of power that brings with it a moment of feeling, a rush of emotions. It is easy to become addicted to, and the more terror a victim feels before they are fed upon, the greater the rush. It is akin to a human doing drugs. Every time a Carpathian male enters a battle, their opponent more often than not a vampire, and they kill, they are brought closer to that edge of insanity, where they have to make the choice. Ancients (Carpathians a thousand years or older) are at greater risk of becoming a vampire, because of the more kills they have made. The sun is also a greater risk to unattached ancients – younger Carpathians or lifemated male's cam take early and late sunlight as long as they protect their eyes.

The decision to take a lifemate is not a conscious act – for the males it is instinct, a hunger. They know and recognise their other half. Separation of lifemates is painful, when one is apart from another they both feel bereft. They have a need to often share their mind with their lifemate as well as their hearts and bodies. If they are apart they will crave the sights and touch of their mate. A Carpathian would do anything to ensure his lifemate's happiness, although her safety and wellbeing is always guaranteed. When a lifemate dies, the other usually chooses to follow, although there have been occasions where the male has succumbed to the insanity of the darkness instead and become Vampire.

Carpathian women have found it very difficult in recent years to have a child (note that the term recent is relevant, considering the lifespan of a Carpathian). Most do not survive after the first year, or the female miscarries before the birth. Although each woman has a different cycle, some can go hundreds of years without having a child whereas others can fall pregnant several times.

Important Information about the Carpathian Species

First and foremost they are creatures of the night. The sun is harmful to them, and if they are caught in the rays of the sun it could kill them. They are at their weakest during the day, their enormous strength draining from their bodies leaving them all but helpless, unable to move. Essentially it is a kind of paralysis, and they seek shelter in the arms of Mother Earth, burying themselves deep in the soil until the sun sets. Just like Vampires, Carpathians have to ingest human blood to survive. They cannot survive on human food, and are repulsed by the idea of eating meat.

At night they are at their strongest, able to run great distances, withstand extreme temperatures, shapeshift, read minds etc. They are telekinetic as well as telepathic, able to heal, can see in the dark as if it were day, and are powerful warriors. They can manipulate the elements, great crafters and artisans, and will do anything to protect their families and species.

Above all they cherish their lifemates, putting their lifemates happiness, wellbeing and safety above their own. They also have a strong sense of duty, and answer to the leader of their species, the Prince of the Carpathian people. The Prince is the living vessel of his people, channelling great power and strength. He is the link between the Carpathians living and their ancestors, Carpathians who are no longer alive. He connects all Carpathians, past and present. Without him to act at this anchor, it is believed that the Carpathian race would founder and fail. This is why he is often the target of assassination attempts, and therefore every Carpathian is sworn to defend him with their lives.

The Prince is always a member of the Dubrinsky family, the most powerful linage. His second-in-command, personal bodyguard, adviser and often closest friend is always from the Daratrazanoff line, and the power that comes with 'ruling' the species is split between the two of them. The current Prince is Mikhail, and his second-in-command is Gregori, who also happens to be the greatest healer of the Carpathians.

The Carpathian Homeland is the mountain range where they get their name from. The exact location is known only to them, to prevent them being targets by humans who believe them to be evil, soulless vampires who must be exterminated. That said, the Carpathian race is spread out across the globe, with couples living in Italy, Paris, Russia, on the East Coast of America, San Francisco and in South America in the Amazon Rainforest. They tend to live in the wilderness rather than in cities, although there are a few exceptions, as they are closer to nature.

Enemies of the Carpathians

Every species has an enemy. The Carpathians have many. Unlike humans though, time is not an enemy of Carpathians, for they do not age, not in the sense humans do. They will not die of old-age. Make no mistake, they are not immortal, they can be killed. Rather, they have long-evity.

Vampires are an enemy of Carpathians. Despite once being Carpathian themselves, Vampires despise those that have not turned, because they represent everything the Vampire once was. they see the Carpathians as weak. Vampires believe themselves to be superior to all, especially as human as they hold great contempt for, and as little more than a source for food. They do not believe they should have to hide from humans, which is another reason they see Carpathians as weak. They have all the same powers as they did when they were Carpathians; they do not hold back when they feed and drain their victims to death, usually after having tortured them first. But for all their 'power', Vampires have one great weakness – the sun. It is far more lethal to Vampires than it is to Carpathians – a single ray will burn them intensely and they would die in a matter of seconds if they stayed out in the sun. Unlike Carpathians whose enormous power is slowly drained by the sun but can withstand the early morning and evening light, a Vampire is paralysed completely from the moment the sun rises to when it sets. They are affected by crosses and holy water, and cannot enter sacred ground.*

Another enemy of the Carpathians are humans. Whilst some are accepting of the species, there are many who cannot differentiate between a Carpathian and a Vampire, and see them all to be the same evil, blood sucking monster that must be exterminated. There is a secret society made up of humans that is dedicated to wiping out all those of a 'vampiric nature', but more often than not their victims end up being innocent humans they have marked for torture and death. The Prince has often been targeted by this society, his lifemate, sister, brother and his brother's lifemate were also all targeted by the society. Often this society is infiltrated by a true Vampire, who manipulates the humans into doing his bidding. Most of the times the humans who have been manipulated do not know what is actually happening, and believe they are the ones making the decisions.

The mage is another enemy of Carpathians. This is a bit more complicated, because it is not the entire race of mage that is against the Carpathians, but the High Mage, a man by the name of Xavier, is the true enemy of the species. He hates Carpathians with a passion, because of their gifts, but also because of what he sees as their immortality. He is one of the most powerful beings, and whilst mages have long-evity, it is nothing compared to that of the Carpathians, and he wants to live forever. Xavier found that he was able to live longer by ingesting the blood of Carpathians, and so kidnapped and imprisoned a Carpathian woman after killing her lifemate. Her name was Rhiannon, and she hailed from the Dragonseeker line, another very powerful linage. He forced her to have his children, and once they were old enough to sustain him with their blood, killed Rhiannon. Eventually he was destroyed, but he managed to bring the Carpathian race to the brink of extinction.

The Lycan was not an enemy of the Carpathians, nor were the Jaguar. However a splinter group of the Lycan society, known as Rogues, became a big problem for the Carpathians. A Rogue was to the Lycan what a Vampire was to the Carpathian. They formed packs and preyed on humans, Lycans and Carpathians. The real enemy here was a being called Sange Rau (translating into 'bad blood'). This was a being that started out as either a Carpathian or Lycan before becoming either Vampire or Rogue, before ingesting the blood of their other species counterpart. This creature was a Vampire/Wolf combination, and was nigh impossible to defeat. The only sure way to successfully destroy this abomination was to be a Hän ku pesäk kaikak, (translating to 'Guardian of All'). A Hän ku pesäk kaikak is also a mixed blood, but it is a mixture of a Carpathian and a Lycan.

Family Trees

These make knowing who people are a lot easier and what their connections are to each other. Go onto Google Images and type in Dark Series Family Tree and you will be able to find some pretty good examples of the family trees.

Book Order and Couples

This is a quick list of the order that the books should be read in, and which couple is the centre of the storyline. Note that in some of the later books, there is more than one new couple.

Dark Prince – Mikhail Dubrinsky and Raven Whitney

Dark Desire – Jacques Dubrinsky and Shea O'Halloran

Dark Gold – Aiden Savage and Alexandria Houton

Dark Magic – Gregori Daratrazanoff and Savannah Dubrinsky

Dark Challenge – Julian Savage and Desari Daratrazanoff

Dark Fire – Darius Daratrazanoff and Tempest Trine; Barack and Syndil

Dark Dream – Falcon and Sara Marten

Dark Legend – Gabriel Daratrazanoff and Francesca Del Ponce

Dark Guardian – Lucian Daratrazanoff and Jaxon Montgomery

Dark Symphony – Byron Justicano and Antonietta Scarletti

Dark Descent – Traian Trigovise and Joie Saunders

Dark Melody – Dayan and Corrine Wentworth

Dark Destiny – Nicolae Von Shrieder and Destiny

Dark Hunger – Riordan De La Cruz and Juliette Sangria

Dark Secret – Rafael De La Cruz and Colby Jansen

Dark Demon – Vikirnoff Von Shrieder and Natalya Shonski

Dark Celebration

Dark Possession – Manolito De La Cruz and MaryAnn Delaney

Dark Curse – Nicholas De La Cruz and Lara Calladine

Dark Slayer – Razvan and Ivoery Malinov

Dark Peril – Dominic Dragonseeker and Solange Sangria

Dark Predator – Zacarias De La Cruz and Marguarita Fernandez

Dark Storm – Danutdaxton "Dax" and Riley Parker

Dark Lycan – Fenris Dalka (Tirunul Clan) and Tatijana Dragonseeker

Dark Wolf – Dimitri Tirunul and Skyler Daratrazanoff/Dragonseeker

Dark Blood – Zev Hunter and Branislava Dragonseeker

Dark Crime – Maksim Volkov and Blaze McGuire

Dark Ghost – Andre Boroi and Teagan

Dark Promises – Aleksei and Gabrielle Sanders; Fane and Trixie Jones

Dark Carousel – Tariq Asenguard and Charlotte Vintage

Dark Legacy – Dragomir Koziel and Emeline Sanchez; Val Zhestokly and Liv (introduced)

Dark Sentinal – Andor Katona and Lorraine Peters; Ferro and Elisabeta Trigovise (intro)

Dark Illusion – Isai Florea and Julija Brennan

I really hope that all of this helps, I do once again apologise if you know all of this already, and again apologise if you thought this was an update. It is coming I swear, and hopefully now that I have spent a day organising this it will be ready sooner rather than later.