Shadow Body

The Shadow Knights, or Black Knights, as they would come to be known, were mostly melee and ranged fighters. When magic was needed, they would enlist Alric's magi, but that secondment was always short. The melee knights were mostly posted in the grounds, but the ranged knights had a different role: they were stationed around the demon gate.

Archmage Alric came to Lord Rasmodel with a sheet of paper. It was morning, when the Master of Dowdun was most impatient.

Alric had been monitoring the Black Knights. He had suspected something for years now, but today he had proof. The sheet was from a ledger, and it accounted for the number of magi casualties since Alric had become Archmage. There had been one hundred and seventeen deaths from one hundred and seventeen incidents. There was no single incident ion which more than one mage died.

Alric was in a fury, tossing papers and spitting curses. It was proof that the Shadow Knights were deliberately negligent, that they saw the magi as disposable. Lord Rasmodel kept silent, and let the mage rampage.

The orders went out from Lord Rasmodel the next day. All Shadow Knights were to allow two magi to die with each incident.