Role

Chapter 1

The torch of Shadow safely in the keeping of the Knight guardian, Hollaran
takes the time to pray to his lord, Cador, of the unbreakable blade. His
honor steadfast and true he takes pride in his duties to the Light, and is
grateful for the trust of the Marshall and the Gods. The way of honor is
not simple, and can sometimes lead to pain and sacrifice, but it comes with
great internal strength, and a clarity few can imagine. But moments after
he begins his prayers the air shrieks with screams as dark mages of the
evil Shadow cabal come seeking to retrieve the torch. Quickly finishing up
Hollaran prepares and strides through the gatehouse to meet the challenge.
Too late he sees not one but three, and before he can plan a strategy for
victory, he is engaged and defeated, the torch restored to darkness.

He is no stranger to death and defeat, evil can be powerful, otherwise what
need for knights, but what happens next shakes him to the core of his being.
Before his eyes two of the shadows, dark mages both, begin vile incantations,
the very words painful to hear, abrasive to his ears. Deeper they chant,
stronger, with growing sense of ominous forboding and a perceptible diminishing
of the light. Soon, though it is mid-day, the gatehouse is dark as midnight.
And just as he thinks he can take no more, that his eyes will pop and his ears
will bleed, the shadow mages reach a terrible crescendo and scream out the final
words of their black ritual. A flash both brighter and yet without light at all
blinds Hollaran and as his vision returns he sees where his corpse had been is
now some dark being, a demon or devil of substantial power, visible waves of Evil
rippling outward from its body as if heat from a fire. Helpless and ghostly
Hollaran can do nothing, but he is not one to simply fall in abject terror. He
is a Knight of Thera! He is a bearer of the Unbreakable Blade! He will stand
even if there is no power in his arms or legs.