Post by David on Jan 26, 2006 20:17:50 GMT -5
Before the Champions of Oerth returned, before the New Heroes made contact with the Eleven, before Oerth was cut off from the Gods and the Multiverse, before the Apocalypse really started, nine heroes entered the Halls of the Dead. Their mission was to recover the Gossamer Hammer from the Gods of the Dead so it could be used to shatter the Entropy Bell and save the reality known as Oerth...
And in the interest of all life on Oerth, these nine were allowed to depart the Halls of the Dead, even though they left their mortal essences behind. But one woman, Jessica Talgris, possessed of the primal essence of the prehistoric god, Talon, god of survival, managed to leave the Halls of the Dead with her mortality intact. Enraged, the deities in charge of death and life in each and every pantheon on Oerth rebelled, refusing to accept any more souls until this offense had been addressed...
Now, the Apocalypse is over. Order and the Orb of Law have returned to Oerth. And the Gods of the Dead have been mollified. The cycle of life and death had returned to normal, with ONE exception...
As eight mortals and one immortal escaped the Domains of the Dead, so too may the Gods of the Dead select eight dead mortals and one dead immortal to do the same. In exchange, reality returns to normal. Meanwhile, for these nine Shadow Knights, unlife is just starting to get interesting...
(stealing from Greek and early Christian metaphysics)
These eight mortals possess their minds, but not their souls. They have been given bodies to match those which they possessed in life, but not the spark of life. Instead, their corpses are animated much like the undead, but far closer to the functions of the living.
As a result, the Shadows Knights are much like any other heroes save:
Their bodies are not alive. Thus they have no bodily functions. They need not eat, drink, sleep, rest, age, become sick, bleed, suffer from poison, etc. Unfortunately, neither are they full animate undead, so over time their bodies will also wear away. They are not warm and do not fully feel pleasure or pain.
Their souls are not within their bodies. Thus, they are highly resistant to energy-draining attacks. In fact, most undead (as well as demons and devils) which are not highly intelligent will simply assume the Shadow Knights are fellow undead! But they are NOT immune to level drain, as each Knight has an animating spirit control his or her corpse.
These eight Shadow Knights have been dispatched by the Gods of the Dead to serve THEIR OWN interests, without ANY interference from the other divine powers. In exchange for service, each Knight may slowly earn back his or her soul, ultimately returning to true life.
The first such quest -- take back those souls stolen by the Old One during the Apocalypse, and if you slaughter a bunch of orcs on the way, so much the better!
And in the interest of all life on Oerth, these nine were allowed to depart the Halls of the Dead, even though they left their mortal essences behind. But one woman, Jessica Talgris, possessed of the primal essence of the prehistoric god, Talon, god of survival, managed to leave the Halls of the Dead with her mortality intact. Enraged, the deities in charge of death and life in each and every pantheon on Oerth rebelled, refusing to accept any more souls until this offense had been addressed...
Now, the Apocalypse is over. Order and the Orb of Law have returned to Oerth. And the Gods of the Dead have been mollified. The cycle of life and death had returned to normal, with ONE exception...
As eight mortals and one immortal escaped the Domains of the Dead, so too may the Gods of the Dead select eight dead mortals and one dead immortal to do the same. In exchange, reality returns to normal. Meanwhile, for these nine Shadow Knights, unlife is just starting to get interesting...
(stealing from Greek and early Christian metaphysics)
These eight mortals possess their minds, but not their souls. They have been given bodies to match those which they possessed in life, but not the spark of life. Instead, their corpses are animated much like the undead, but far closer to the functions of the living.
As a result, the Shadows Knights are much like any other heroes save:
Their bodies are not alive. Thus they have no bodily functions. They need not eat, drink, sleep, rest, age, become sick, bleed, suffer from poison, etc. Unfortunately, neither are they full animate undead, so over time their bodies will also wear away. They are not warm and do not fully feel pleasure or pain.
Their souls are not within their bodies. Thus, they are highly resistant to energy-draining attacks. In fact, most undead (as well as demons and devils) which are not highly intelligent will simply assume the Shadow Knights are fellow undead! But they are NOT immune to level drain, as each Knight has an animating spirit control his or her corpse.
These eight Shadow Knights have been dispatched by the Gods of the Dead to serve THEIR OWN interests, without ANY interference from the other divine powers. In exchange for service, each Knight may slowly earn back his or her soul, ultimately returning to true life.
The first such quest -- take back those souls stolen by the Old One during the Apocalypse, and if you slaughter a bunch of orcs on the way, so much the better!
