The Early History of the Shadow Knights

As scribed by Lanival Illithi.

Our story begins after the Purist War.  Defeated by the sheer numbers of the nonpurist force, many survivors simply gave up on their ideals and retired to a less adventurous life.  But the founders of our order, Shay and Ishamael, vowed to press onward.  With the few remaining true believers, they wandered like nomads for many months, quietly collecting funds from those sympathetic to our cause.  To outsiders, it looked as though our flame would soon be extinguished.  But we knew better. 

Money began pouring in from all corners of Algoron.  Our defeat did nothing to diminish our stature around the world; indeed, it perhaps had the opposite effect.  Common men and women romanticized our work even more than before.  With our funds growing daily, a new home was our chief goal.  The desolate sands south of New Thalos were chosen as the location, and soon shipments of black marble began to come in from across the world, thanks mainly to our allies in the Pirates.  Wizards were hired to maintain cloaking spells on the construction, so that we might build our new home in peace. 

Once the construction of Storm Keep was completed and blessings were placed upon the structure by a variety of holy men and women, we entered our mighty fortress for the very first time, and the Shadow Knights of Necrucifer as you know them today were formed.  These were heady days; the mightiest followers of Necrucifer from all over the lands heeded the call to join His most holy and knightly order.  On fire with faith in god, the first generation of Shadow Knights produced of number of great and dark heroes whose names should not be forgotten.  Some are honored in our statuary, such as the Shay Kayen, Ishamael Rinji, Ihsan Madaur, and Shay's bride, Sorcia.  But let us also never forget the contributions of men and women such as Harold Na'vor, Cragesh Torlang, Gwendolyne Dulac, Verias Wa, Lu'ther Kestyll, Seethe, and many others.  I was honored to serve with each of them.

But not all was perfect in our earliest days.  Less than a year after the completion of Storm Keep, the earth beneath the fortress began to shake violently, and all about the Keep a ghastly hiss could be heard repeating the word, "Leave."  Dark Lord Shay Kayen ordered all Shadow Knights out of the Keep and onto the old trade road that ran south from New Thalos.  Just as the last remaining Knights made their way from Storm, the sand around and under our castle began to rapidly sink into the Abyss.  Storm Keep would soon be swallowed whole by the gaping maw of earth.  As we looked on in horror, an invisible force took hold of Shay and dragged him down with Storm Keep into the nothingness.  The hole filled with sand and was gone as quickly as it had come, but there were no traces of Storm Keep or of Shay Kayen.  We were without a home once more. 

Days passed without word from Shay or sign from above.  When it became clear that neither were forthcoming any time soon, Ishamael Rinji accepted an offer of safe haven from Gaar Volen, known in those days as Malice.  And such was our fate for quite some time: to live alongside those murderers and thieves.  What we had done to anger God, we were uncertain.  Months passed, and it seemed that we would lose Knights on a daily basis.  Some believed our order was cursed.  Others believed Necrucifer simply had no use for us.  But the most zealous among us remained, and spent each day in quiet penance, beseeching the heavens above to give us a sign.  Our prayers were ultimately answered, though in a rather unexpected way. 

The gods of all pantheons, disgusted with mortal greed, destroyed all of the world's currency and many of the world's tangible possessions.  A messenger of Necrucifer came unto us and said that Storm Keep had been financed with the most ill gotten of gains, and that our Lord Himself was offended by its very stature as a grand battle-temple to Him.

The most egregiously offending parties, the messenger said, were suffering quite appropriately, and would do so for All Eternity.  We asked if Shay Kayen was among these hopeless souls.  No, the messenger said.  His sins against our Lord were of a different sort.  Would he be returning to us, then?  No, said the messenger with a grin.  But as a reward to those of us who had stayed faithful to Him through these trials, Storm Keep would be restored.  And then the messenger returned into the ethereal darkness from whence it came. 

Still under the leadership of Ishamael Rinji, we returned to our fortress once more, again faced with the task of rebuilding our strength.  The days were difficult; few wanted to join an organization so obsessed with order that had suffered through such a turbulent and brief history.  But I remember vividly that there was one young Petitioner who came to us in those days who bore a spark in his soul that was evident to any who got to know him.  The young man's name was Kylan Crown.  As devout and determined as any Petitioner we had ever seen, Kylan rose through our ranks at a pace heretofore unseen.  Mighty in battle and unshakeable in faith, Kylan gave us hope that our order would not die with the passing of the first generation.  Give us a legion of Kylan Crowns, the older among us would muse, and we would conquer half of Algoron. 

One fateful day, the gods issued forth a challenge to all of Algoron: a combat tournament would be held.  Single participants only.  The prize was unclear, but the chance for glory was enough to draw multitudes of combatants.  I intended to be Storm Keep's representative in the tournament, so certain was I that I would be victorious, but as I was about to leave Storm to sign up, I felt a hand on my shoulder.  "Allow me to represent the Shadow Knights, Sir Illithi," said the voice behind me.  I turned to face Kylan Crown with the intent of brushing his request aside.  But when I looked into his eyes, I saw the dark fires within his soul burn with an intensity the likes of which I had not seen before, nor have I seen it since.  Truly, I could not stand in his way. 

My decision proved to be a wise one.  With the determination of a man possessed, Kylan Crown defeated all comers, dwarves and elves, Armadans and Marauders.  When Kylan had dispatched his final opponent, a loud thunderclap could be heard in the distance.  All spectators looked towards the heavens in amazement, and a dark, booming voice could be heard.  Your faith is true. Return, Shay Kayen.  There is much to do.   When the crowd looked back into the arena battlefield, Kylan Crown was gone.  Standing in his place was the founder of the Shadow Knights himself, Shay Kayen.

Restored to his own body, Shay explained to us that God was angry with him for putting his love for his wife, Sorcia, ahead of the well-being of the Shadow Knights, and his trials as Kylan Crown were his penance.  Had he not proven his dedication to the Prophecy once more, he would have been doomed to walk the lands as Kylan Crown for the rest of his mortal life, and would then suffer in the next.  Shay had succeeded in proving himself, however, and naturally nearly all of us rejoiced at Shay's return.  Ishamael was happy to hand the reigns of our order back to his old friend, and we believed we were on the path to righteousness once more.  But this sentiment was not quite unanimous. 

The first (and to that point, only) Master of the Crimson Rose, Prospal Jhanan, did not believe that Shay could change.  Prospal feared that in an hour of critical need, Shay would once more place his wife ahead of his knights.  He voiced his concerns to Shay and to the other sect leaders, but Prospal found himself alone.  Disagreement soon gave way to outright rebellion.  Prospal now intended to slay Shay and take control of the Shadow Knights himself.  When we caught wind of his plan, we chased him out of Storm Keep.  He escaped our grasp, but a manhunt was underway.  It was at this time that I, Lanival Illithi, was made our order's second Master of the Crimson Rose.  Prospal proved quite elusive.  A simple seek and destroy mission would not do the trick against such a wily foe.  Knowing this, I crafted a plan to ensnare him. 

Shay sent word to all corners of Algoron that Prospal would be given a chance to voice his concerns to the collected body of Shadow Knights at Storm Keep in one week's time.  No such opportunity truly existed, of course.  We had hoped that his hubris would drive him to attend, thus making his capture quite easy.  Our calculations were correct, and sure enough, we were able to apprehend the traitor and hold him captive.  Shay intended to publicly try, convict, and execute him, and place his head on a pike that would stand at the entrance of Storm Keep for all time.  On the day of the trial, the slippery Prospal escaped once more.  To this day, I am uncertain what happened to him.  I have heard that, years later, Prospal sought Shay's forgiveness, and that Shay, in his munificence, granted it.  But this would be the last true internal conflict Storm Keep would face for many years. 

Many relatively uneventful years would pass, though we must not forget the knights who made names for themselves during this era, among them Skardin Varze, Nikolae Kayen, Hsiu Wa, Jurann of Desormes, and others.  This era of stability also featured the coming of that most pious of priests, Isadore Schwartz, to Storm Keep.  I am honored to say that I served as Chancellor during the reign of Isadore as Dark Lord.  This was a time of great faith within the keep, as we were honored to hold Necrucifer's two highest-ranked priests, Abbott (later High Priest) Isadore and Bishop Seethe, within our walls.  The tenure of Isadore, the Voice of Necrucifer, as Dark Lord was not long, but it left a lasting impact.  To this day, Isadore's policy of requiring a sacrifice of all of one's earthly possessions upon joining the Shadow Knights lives on.  But it would be Isadore's final decision as Dark Lord that would lead to the next period of instability within the Keep. 

Rather than choose a successor, Isadore appointed a Council of Three to pick who would lead our order next.  The three men chosen to comprise this council were Falidor of Gyrax, Jurann of Desormes, and myself.  The council's first vote saw each man vote for himself.  The second vote saw Falidor change his vote to Lanival, and I was appointed Dark Lord, much to the consternation of Jurann.  Jurann quickly moved to challenge my leadership through the old rules of mutiny, though I will not discuss his motives here.  Rather than fight him, I chose to depart Storm Keep, and this is where my knowledge of the history of our order ends.