The Shadow Vault - Neutral Knights of the Ebon Blade RP on Moonguard

The Shadow Vault is a guild for Death Knights who hail from the Ebon Blade base of the same name in Icecrown, as well as any living individuals interested in associating with these Death Knights in some way. We established ourselves on Wyrmrest Accord in 2011 and moved to Moon Guard in 2023.If your character is a Death Knight, or a living being who is interested in the Scourge or the Ebon Blade, they may well fit in to our morbid little family.Our Goals (IC):

  • To continue to purge Northrend and Lordaeron of the restless remnants of the Scourge and the Cult of the Damned.

  • To provide support for returning Death Knights with the difficult process of re-assimilation into civilized society.

  • To maintain diplomatic relations between the Knights of the Ebon Blade and the Alliance and Horde.

Note: These are just the official goals of the group, and they collectively serve as a front for our actions. Your character can have their own goals, or even insidious ones, so long as they keep those goals hidden. Just be subtle about it and it's all good. This is a neutral guild and all character alignments are welcome.Our goals (OOC):

  • To provide a friendly network for Death Knight roleplayers.

  • To function as a reliable 'Ebon Blade' presence for the server to refer to when they need contact with the faction.

  • To create and foster roleplay on Moon Guard related to DKs, the Scourge, the Cult of the Damned, etc.

  • To provide assistance for new and leveling Death Knight roleplayers with questing, dungeons, and learning the class.

This is not a class-restricted guild! We welcome any living characters who have an interest in associating with the Knights of the Ebon Blade: diplomats, researchers, historians-- any curious minds who can stand the smell. :)

Lore Standards & Resources

Death Knight lore is rich and full of opportunities for roleplay. There is enough grey area to allow for a fair degree of interpretation and creativity, and yet enough consistency to support standards for what we feel is 'realistic'. If you are uncertain, staying within these standards is a good place to begin.In an effort to maintain a reputation for lore-abiding roleplay on the server, The Shadow Vault has certain restrictions regarding the activities, qualities, and backstories of the characters it accepts.Our death knights are Knights of the Ebon Blade, are undead, and are concerned with maintaining a good relationship with the Alliance and Horde. Their admission to mortal socity is a privilege and not a right. As such:

  • They do not flaunt their necromancy in major cities.

  • They are not fully or partially alive in any way / don't smell wonderful. They have symptoms of undeath other than burning eyes. Our players embrace the 'good' and 'bad' of their characters' states of undeath.

  • They cannot procreate as a result of being undead.

  • They do not make threats or put on inappropriately violent displays in public places. There is an NPC guard force active ICly; you need to recognize this or at least acknowledge it reasonably.

  • They are not fel-infused, mechanical, etc. Being a death knight is cool on its own!

  • To the public, they would not behave in ways that would represent the Ebon Blade negatively to the mortal factions. We view tolerance by the Alliance and Horde as a privilege and not a right. We view our alliance with the factions as something we need.

  • If DK characters ARE behaving in a way that the Ebon Blade, the Alliance or Horde would disagree with, then they are subtle about it. The potential for witnesses and authority involvement is taken extremely seriously.

  • They are Knights of the Ebon Blade and not rogue or Scourge-affiliated.

We are NOT an organization separate from the Ebon Blade. We are 'some knights of the Ebon Blade, who happen to mostly be stationed at the Shadow Vault in Icecrown'. There is no separate organization to fall back on, so these rules are a little more strict.That said, we have zero interest in policing non-affiliated players on the server and would never tell anyone how to RP. This is just how we choose to do it.These restrictions aside, we love character development! We embrace the idea that even death knights can emotionally grow and change, and that they are capable of having complex interactions. We do not want drones (unless you have a particularly emotionally challenged Death Knight, which is fine too).

More info about the guild:There are <The Shadow Vault> guilds on Wyrmrest Accord and Moon Guard, but guild membership is 100% optional to be involved with us. We primarily use an in-game community and Discord to keep in touch.

Our family:As a niche interest guild, we have always been relatively small (10-15 active players) and this is unlikely to change in the future. Our peak times are evenings ST (6PM+).All event attendance is optional. Most of us happen to be adults with responsibilities outside the game and we are very understanding of this.Our tabard:Our official tabard is the Tabard of the Ebon Blade. To obtain it, you will need to have completed the quests to unlock The Shadow Vault in Icecrown.Unlocking requires the character to be level 25 minimum, and to complete these 5 quests. The first can be picked up from Thassarian on the Alliance airship in Icecrown.
1. It's All Fun and Games
2. I Have an Idea, But First...
3. Free Your Mind
4. If He Cannot Be Turned
5. The Shadow VaultThis is not required for guild membership, but it is highly recommended that you take care of it as soon as is convenient, or you will be phased and unable to RP in that location with members who have unlocked it.Leadership ranks:Leadership in the guild is IC. Characters are given responsibilities and ranks not based on any OOC factors like time spent in the guild, but whether their IC personality is suited for leadership and leadership will be an integral part of their roleplay. If your character would make a good leader, all you need to do is talk to an officer about it. Taking this sort of initiative is highly appreciated!While we are not strictly a military guild, the Ebon Blade is a military organization, and as such we have a very basic structure of IC command in place. At the very top of the Shadow Vault is our Dread Commander. He oversees Northrend operations and spends a lot of time hearing reports and making decisions.Reporting to him, and closer to the knights and champions of the Blade, are Ebon Commanders. They have been named to these positions due to continued dedication to Ebon Blade activities and excellence in field command. They are organized, focused, and intuitive, skilled at devising strategies to tackle problems (leading events IC) and communicating those plans to their units.

Casual PvE - M+ and Raiding

We enjoy casual PvE (Normal and Heroic raiding & mythic+ dungeons) on weekends. We are primarily a RP guild, so while some of us bring previous raid experience, we are very beginner-friendly and prefer to do lighter content to be more inclusive. Our goal is to enjoy raid time as a stress-free social activity for the guild to do something together outside of RP.We do have some expectations of our PvE team so that we can get things done, but due to the level of the content we tackle, it won't ever be necessary for anyone to play a spec they don't like.What to expect:

  • Unscheduled Mythic and Mythic+ groups forming throughout the week

  • Raiding up to twice a week in a casual, friendly environment. Casual/Farm raid is on Fridays (8-11pm Eastern) and progression is on Saturday (8-11pm Eastern).

Recruitment
It's great that you're interested in joining us! Here are some things you may wish to know...... before applying:
• Please read the Lore Standards & Resources section of this website.
Have a roleplaying addon such as MRP or TRP. Don't worry about the content of your history in regards to your application. We do not expect you to have a fleshed-out character back story before applying to the guild. The fun part of development is getting there, after all!
• Know that we do not discriminate based upon what level you are, or whether or not you are good at playing the class. We would love to assist you in leveling, gearing, or learning the class (if you wish).... about the process:
• Express your interest to an officer in-game (Mornal, Bernord, Evelyne; or battletag Evelyne#1179).
• Let us know if you would like to join the in-game community, Discord, guild, or all three and we can get you an invite!