Knights of the Black Sword

The Knights of the Black Sword were a secret cult devoted to Levistus local to Icewind Dale.
==Activities==
Levistus telepathically ordered the Knights of the Black Sword from Stygia, although they could not respond back. They shunned contact with outsiders and turned away any who visited Crannoc, the Speaker of Caer-Dineval, by posing as his staff. Only when Levistus's dictates demanded otherwise would they welcome outsiders with open arms.
==Recruitment==
Most members of the Knights were simply natives to Icewind Dale who were saved from certain doom by Levistus. In every case the archdevil mentally contacted them as they were freezing to death, offering them a second chance at life in exchange for absolute loyalty. After agreement they would see a pale glow, leading to find a sword-shaped amulet of chardalyn in the snow with an inner radiance that kept them warm as it guided them back to civilization. New members were welcomed into the fold.
==Tactics and philosophy==
Cultist kept their amulets as signs of devotion to Levistus despite their non-functionality after saving them, and in so doing secured their downfall. If they were not corrupted already, the desecrated trinkets would ensure they were, for every day they might test the wearer's moral and ethical fiber. Magic that removed curses was enough to undo the change in alignment at first, but after nine days only wishes or divine intervention could reverse the transition to lawful evil. Upon death the corpses of cultists froze, and for the next nine days could not be thawed, enflamed, raised from the dead or risen as undead.
==History==
The Knights of the Black Sword were scattered throughout Ten-Towns. During the Everlasting Rime incident wrought by Auril in 1487 DR, Levistus called upon the Knights of the Black Sword to aid another of his disciples; the albino tiefling wizard Avarice. The Knights found her demanding and difficult to live with, but dared not defy her.
Levistus also warned the Knights that the duergar of Icewind Dale were plotting to destroy Ten-Towns. His suspicions they were doing so under Asmodeus's direction was kept to himself. The cult's oldest living member at the time, a peg-legged shield dwarf named Hethyl, predictably hated the duergar, and so motivated the other members to help any willing to oppose them. They were only barely secret, even if few locals ever spoke of them.
==Appendix==
===Appearances===
:;Adventures
::Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
Category:Cults