626 BC

Events

• August or September (The Great Kingdom) Sir Kendall dies, leaving room for Alexi Shadowborn to fill his slot in the Paladins of the Circle.
• October A series of grave robberies in Brimstadt warrant the intervention of Alexi Shadowborn. He investigates and ambushes the grave robbers, who turn out to be ghouls marked with the emblem of Ebonbane. He narrowly survives the encounter.
• The Darkening shows Belenus's disfavor of Alexi Shadowborn joining the Circle, causing him to fail his Rite of Ascension. On the way home, he meets Lysander Greylocks for the first time.
• In the company of Ferran Shadowborn (then Alexi's squire), Dasmaria Eveningstar, and Lysander, Alexi Shadowborn leaves the Great Kingdom for the Southern Empire, hoping to root out the killer of his mother, Kateri Shadowborn. Instead, Alexi and his friends are brought into the Phantasmal Forest. They encounter and destroy two of the Dark Triad, though at the cost of Dasmaria's life, before entering Shadowborn Manor. Lysander's existence is ended. Kateri's spirit can no longer contain Ebonbane, and the sword that held him is shattered in combat with Alexi. Although Ebonbane is briefly freed, Alexi absorbs the fiend into his body, serving as Ebonband's new prison.
• Now bound to Shadowborn Manor, Alexi sends Ferran, along with their mounts, back to Shadowfast. Ferran arrives back home safely. In the years to follow, Ferran will join the Circle and become an influential hero in his own right.