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The Official Children of Tunare’s Shadowknight’s guide to Norrath Written by : Cimmerian Kimmerios **Out of seemingly nowhere, a figure that could only be described as looking like a Dark Warrior appeared before the eyes of a young person. The figure seemed to have an aura about him that one could not ignore. You could very distinctly feel that where this person went…death was not far behind. This person…whomever he was…was a very, very deadly soul. “Welcome,” the figure said in a slow yet purposeful tone…“I will be your mentor.” “The first thing you must understand is that I am here only for guidance…you must do the training on your own. You progress on your own…and you must become one with your class on your own. Becoming one with your class as a Shadowknight is a very personal and private experience, because, you see…You experience a transformation that other people simply cannot understand or share with you.” “With that said, let’s commence with the first steps of your guidance.” “I will give you an idea of where we came from as a class. You must understand this, in order to fully know just what a Shadowknight is. In the beginning, we were simply warriors, powerful and confident in battle. This is our greatest heritage, and it’s something that you will soon learn to take pride in. In time, some of the warriors began to look for new advantages in battle. The eventually chose some new masters to give them instruction. And those new instructors imparted the training that gives us the hated reputation as a class…You see, in the days of old, when our warrior forefathers sought out additional ways of battle, they discovered an appreciation for the art of Necromancy. Common people fear the dark powers of Necromancy, but thankfully our forefathers looked beyond this to the real power that the class held. They sought to make some of that power their own.” “So thus, they continued to train in their skills as powerful warriors…but they also secretly received training in the art of Necromancy. Due to the effort it takes to become a Master in each of those classes, our forefathers were forced to find a balance between the two…and thus, the first Shadowknights were born.” “Do not listen to criticisms, young student. If…and I mean *if* you do succeed in becoming a Master at our art, you will be one of the most powerful classes in the land. But let their be no illusions, *no* class is more difficult to progress in. It takes a great deal of time to learn both the physical skills of a warrior, and the mental art of the Necromancer. Many try, only to find that they cannot succeed. But those who make it will mature into perhaps the most diverse class in all of Norrath.” “In order to pursue the art of Necromancy, our Warrior forefathers made the decision to forego the traditional training of duel wielding weapons. In fact, they found that if they did that, in order to spend more time pursuing the magical arts, that they would be actually more powerful…not less. As a Shadowknight, you are still very much a weapons master. Perhaps not quite as much as our warrior forefathers of old, but then again, they would have envied our new skills. Because we are weapons masters, I urge you to train all your weapons skills. You yourself must judge how to do this wisely.” “Before you begin to think however that we are simply a new brand of warrior, let me tell you that the art of necromancy is *deadly*. Why be a delusional Paladin who spends his time trying to find ways to heal himself with his own mana…when you can actually suck the life out of your targets in battle…and add it to your own! That is not all you are able to steal from your targets…in time, you will learn ways to suck away the physical strength of your targets…and add it to your own. Being able to go into a battle…and come out, not only alive and victorious, but also quite a lot stronger is something other melee classes can only dream of. When you think an enemy is difficult to hit and difficult to cause damage with your weapon, you can use your future skills to take away some of their armor class…and add it to your own. In short, you learn to make yourself more powerful in battle while at the same time, taking away your targets ability to fight.” “You will in time be able to cast powerful damage over time spells that will damage your opponent even while your are chopping them down with one of your many weapons. You will learn many of these, and you will be able to use several of them at once for increasing damage.” “When fighting undead, you will be able to cast direct damage spells on them from a distance. How could you do that without them rushing you, you might ask…The answer to that lies in one of our most interesting abilities. With a couple of bone chips, we can use our magic to summon skeletal pets. While our pets will never last long in battle, we don’t need them to. Making the most use of your pets will be a skill that you yourself have to learn in time. If you wish to use them simply to cause a little damage over the course of the fight, you must be careful not to let them die. However, many Master Shadowknights simply use their pets to send into battle before them…allowing them to cast their many deadly spells on the target, and steal the targets strength and other attributes before the Shadowknight ever has to engage in battle. Fighting a weakened target as a weapons master gives you a great source of power that many other classes can only envy.” “Later in your training, you will learn a skill that will both save your life, and make you all the more powerful and desirable in a group. Having the ability to cast a spell that gives you the appearance of being dead will save you many times and give you tactical advantages over virtually all but the Monks who themselves have very admirably become masters of their skill. When you feign death, your target will see no reason to continue to try to kill you. Again, your training is up to you…much of this you cannot be told at this time – you must experience it. There are many ways that Master Shadowknights use this spell, and perhaps if you come back to me sometime in the future, I will share with you some of the ways Master Shadowknights have discovered to best use this in battle.” “There are countless other very useful spells you will have at your disposal. You will eventually gain the ability to render yourself invisible to the common eye…and another spell to render yourself invisible to undead. And if you or a comrade fall in battle, you will receive a spell that will allow you to locate the corpse. You gain the ability to Shadow Step. A Master Shadowknight can use even just this one spell to create a huge tactical advantage, or even just help you save your own skin when you get in over your head.” “There are of course many others…but as I said…your training is up to you to complete on your own. I can only show you the way.” “Because you can only choose your attributes once, it is very important that you choose them wisely. Remember that our greatest heritage is that from our Warrior forefathers. We are masters of battle, and thus should prepare ourselves for such. As masters of battle, we depend upon our own personal strength, agility and dexterity. You must choose how to balance these attributes. With the art of Necromancy, our intelligence becomes of importance, for it determines how many spells we can cast before we need to meditate to replenish our lost mana stores. I urge you to keep in mind however that while we have a share of the art of necromancy, it is only a share…while we have the advantage of this wonderful and deadly art, being a dark warrior is in your blood. I trust that you can balance your attributes to your own satisfaction.” “Our first session together is coming to an end…there is but one last thing I must share with you. We are a very difficult class. Yet the difficulty of our class is rewarded with incredible power if you stick with it until you become a true Master Shadowknight. There are fewer of our class in Norrath than any other. We are as yet, a very well protected secret…protected perhaps by the sheer challenge that the class guarantees. Those that are in our class however are usually prepared for the challenge. Even in the difficult times, you will rarely find a Shadowknight complaining…the Shadowknight knows and expects the road ahead to be a difficult one.” “With the small number of Shadowknight in the land, and the sheer power and competence that Shadowknights always display, we have become a very proud class. Many people think of ‘evil’ when they think of a Shadowknight. While some things that a Shadowknight does could be considered evil by the untrained, the most distinguishing characteristic of a Shadowknight is Pride. We are The Few…The Proud…The Elite. We work harder than others to gain the same progress. We deal with more hardships than others. Yet in the end, our power surpasses others.” “Consider that, and let it give you the motivation to never quit…to never look back. Your eyes should be fixed firmly on the road ahead.” “You have a history to be proud of…your heritage is one of hard work and great accomplishments. May you, in the future, work alongside me and your other Shadowknight Brothers and Sisters to insure that the future of our class is as proud and powerful as our history.” “…Farewell…” **With that, the Master Shadowknight disappears into an eerie flash of light that he seemed to create himself…The young Shadowknight was left surprised and impressed at the sheer feeling that could only be described as ‘presence’ the Master seemed to bring with him. With a suddenly lifted sense of pride, the young Shadowknight began to polish his gear with extra care, and consider the words of the Master. Our young Shadowknight ended that day determined with all his heart to live up to the words that the Master had imparted unto him earlier that day. “Yes,” the young Shadowknight thought…“I will become a Master Shadowknight!” | ||
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