Black Champions

> "It was o'strangest thing ever! I was hollerin' and kickin' when those nary-do-wells took me; along came a rider in black armor, like 'em devils in 'em fairy tales. Scared me knickers off, but before I'd scream, the rider, the Light bless 'im, took down all 'ose scums and freed me. He dinae take any coin and refused to tell me 'is name, then rode off into the sunset. Guess not all black knights are right evil, eh?"
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> — Unknown peasant girl of Sentinel Hill
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If there's one thing the Lordaeronians are most proud of, it is their ideals of poetic knighthood and valorous deeds, which, under these dogmatic teachings, bred some of the most fearsome and loyal horsemen within the realms of men, while inspiring many more daring young nobles to join their ranks and protect their beloved kingdom, including the cursed prince and dreaded kingslayer Arthas, whose beliefs in the knightly virtues and the love for his people blinded him with hate, and eventually, led him to a path of eternal damnation and a path of destruction.

In the wake of Arthas' betrayal, the proud and mighty knightly orders have one by one fallen to the endless Scourge, many of whom, including the most powerful of them all, the paladins of the Silver Hand, fell under the dark prince's sway. While many of those said individuals remain in enslavement under the dark host, a handful of these are liberated during the epic battle for Lordaeron, and, now stuck between the world of the living and dead, pledged their loyalty to their great emancipator and seek to avenge the deaths of their people and free their brothers from perpetual torment.

These risen knights, known now as the **Black Champions**, are extremely valued for their expertise and skill, for they are the last remnants of the mighty paladins of yore and are everything the Lordaeronian could aspire to be. A beacon of hope and aspiration, these able fighters are now appointed to roles of command and tutorship, mainly taking on squires and pushing chess pieces on the battle map, for their valued experience honed in countless battles in life is extremely important to the Forsaken war machine. However, this does not mean that they have renounced their position in battle, for a knight's duty is to vanquish all that threaten, and when such a duty calls, these black-clad warriors ride upon barded deathchargers, wickedly barbed lances and heavy shields in hand, raining retribution and fury upon those who have betrayed and those who have wronged.

## History

> "The southlings would scorn at us being "knights", as our very existence betrays what they have belief in...... They sure've not met Ol' Bartholomew, that bugger's the most decent fellow I've ever seen; chivalrous from the crest of his helm to the tip of his sword. Hear he's even joined the Argent Dawn, I'm not surprised at all."
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> — Sire Damion of Wisserburgh, Brother of the Black Moon and Corvian Knight
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Of all the organizations that have been ravaged by the terrible Scourge onslaught during the Third War, the Knights of the Silver Hand have arguably taken a blow hardest: Their numbers reduced to tenth of their original, many of those either fled to Stormwind or had gathered around their last stronghold at Light's Hope, ready to make a final stand against the undead swarm left in the vast eastern territories.

Amongst those who have perished are many who have been denied of the peace of death, as the fallen prince remembered the valiant order he served before damnation and understood the usefulness of the light-wielding warriors to his cause. Thus rose a terrible host of elite warriors, the creme le creme, whose own existence torments their still conscious souls—For the cruel prince, in a twisted sense of irony, denied these devoted warriors the mindless comfort of ghouls and skeletons, committing heinous crimes with their own hands, wielding their former powers now with great pain wrought upon their lifeless husks, all while they watch with horror and helplessness.