Childhood friend of [[Swain, Dominic|Dominic Swain]], Michael Crew first encounters the dread power after a storm. As they were playing outside upon [[Swain, Dominic|Dominic]]'s insistence, Michael is struck by lightning and survives, but is scarred in a fractal pattern. As a coping mechanism, Michael starts tracing the pattern on his skin, and it is presumed this is how he attracted the attention of [[the Lichtenberg Figure]], which will chase him well into his early adulthood. Michael seeks an escape route from the monster that hunts him, and looks for it in books dealing with "spiritualism, history of witchcraft, anything mystical, especially from before [[1500-01-01 - 1850-12-31|1850]]"[^1]. He finally finds it in *[[Ex Altiora]]*, and subsequently gives himself to [[the Vast]] in [[1998-02-01 - 1998-02-28|February 1998]]. [^1]: [[Literary Heights - 01 - Statement|Literary Heights]].