Dark Priests

Dark Priests are worshippers of the gods in the universe of Fear & Hunger. In the first game, they also serve as enemies.

Lore
Dark Priests are polytheists: the ones among their numbers believe in and serve all the gods, old and new alike. Despite common folk blaming the dark times on the older gods, the Dark Priests also value their teachings.

Although the specifics of their structure as a religion has not been fully explored in Fear & Hunger and Fear & Hunger: Termina, some of their customs have been described through events, literature and character background from both games.

People can be chosen at very young ages to become Dark Priests and have to go through macabre rituals to prove themselves: Enki, a playable character from Fear & Hunger, was pitted against his own twin sister with ritual daggers and both were challenged to fight each other to their last breath. The ascension ceremony for the winning sibling is to resurrect the losing one with necromancy as a ghoul.

To ascend at dark priesthood, members are supposed to leave their temple grounds and learn the occult on their own in a dark pilgrimage. When beginning their self-studies, they can choose the god they wish to dedicate their time to. As the God of the Depths was an viable option for Enki for this task, that might be an indication that the Dark Priests also keep record of gods whose relevance among commonfolk has decreased or ceased.

In modern times, the Dark Priests have overlooked their most archaic rites, but their life still requires full dedication to the older gods. While they are still portrayed as polytheists, it might be a custom that is kept in secrecy: there is a strong public focus on the cult of Alll-mer and little mention of other gods during the year of 1942, especially New Gods. Apparently, their churches currently have different gender roles, as Marina's character creation intro in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina states her fate would be much different were she the firstborn son of her family, which hails from dark priesthood.

This religion at some point has matured enough to form a holy city of sorts - the Vatican - and a Ministry of Darkness at the same grounds. The Vatican offers scholarships and apprenticeships to gifted individuals: Samarie, one of the contestants of Termina in Fear & Hunger 2: Termina, is a Dark Priest apprentice.

Location & behaviour
Dark Priests can be found on the first floor in the area immediately past the first outdoor area. Two can be found right next to a statue with a crucified man on it, and one may be found close by depending on which map is being used. Dark Priests will not move, and will only attack if spoken to or walked into.

If one is equipped with the Priest's Robe, Dark Priests will not be hostile, providing the player with information instead: one of them can share his knowledge about the gods, while another will explain the use of Empty Scrolls.

Two Priests inside the Dream Sequence of Rondon Streets are standing idle after Enki's ceremony. If the protagonist is wearing the Priest's Robe, they can receive Opium Powder and Empty Scroll from these priests through conversation.

As they deal with magic and otherworldly powers, characters with Rhabdophobia will be under the effects of fear when they fight Dark Priests.

Dark Priests have two means of attacking: A soul stone can be used on a Dark Priest to get a Lesser soul. They can be consumed, but not skinned.
 * They have a 33% chance of using the Lantern attack (24-36 damage, 60% burning).
 * The Dark Priest on the left (or the only Dark Priest) will initiate a guard-proof coin-flip attack on the 3rd turn and every 5th turn thereafter to kill the player.

Each Dark Priest gives drops from the same item pool, but some always drop set items. Each Dark Priest drops either a Priest's robe, Priest's lantern, or Cloth fragment. The Dark Priests by the statue will always provide a Purifying talisman and a Soul stone, while the third Priest will only have a drop from the item pool. When using Steal, they contain Purifying Talisman or Book of enlightenment.

Strategy
Dark Priests are very fragile enemies, and are easy to underestimate because of the infrequency of their attacks. Some players may defeat them without even realizing their damage potential, then die or take heavy damage from them on another playthrough.

There are some simple tips that will prevent a player from suffering this fate:
 * Remove the arms of the Dark Priests first. This is the only limb they can use to attack, and you will be able to talk to avoid their coin-flip attack without sacrificing health to their burning attack.
 * Aim for the body: a Dark Priest will perish if 175 damage is dealt to their torso. They have no targetable legs, so their heads will always be difficult to hit with melee.
 * Stop them from using the coin-flip attack on your third turn. They'll telegraph this attack with the flavor text "Dark Priest is chanting...". You can cancel this by talking to them, using Counter-magic, or severing the head of the leftmost/only Dark Priest. Using Guard does not prevent this. Note that they will try again sooner if they're interrupted.

In Fear & Hunger 2: Termina
In the second game of the series, the Dark Priests are not encountered in Prehevil as regular enemies, but some proheminent characters follow the rules of dark priesthood: Samarie, as mentioned before at this article, Father Domek, Father Hugo and three Decrepit Priests, one of them named Father Oscar.